


Where Life Leads

by SavingSaturn



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Hogwarts, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-24 10:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8369512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SavingSaturn/pseuds/SavingSaturn
Summary: As war begins in the Wizarding World, James Potter and Lily Evans are chosen as Head Boy and Girl to help keep the students at Hogwarts safe. Lily has her doubts about James — he’s never been the responsible type — and in the hopes of making her seventh year at Hogwarts less aggravating, she agrees to something that could end up being a terrible mistake. Or it could be the beginning of the rest of her life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this post-HBP so it's not compliant with DH. It was first posted on another site and then placed on hold for several years as RL got in the way. Now I'm revising the current chapters to get a fresh start. Hope you enjoy!

A clock on the bedside table flipped to eight a.m. and twinkling music filled the room. A groggy groan could be heard from the bed as a hand fumbled for a pale stick (also on the bedside table) and after a tap to a glowing picture frame and murmured a few words, the music stopped. In many ways, Lily Evans was a very ordinary seventeen-year-old girl. She got along well enough with her parents, argued with her sister, Petunia, and spent time with her friends when she wasn’t busy with classwork. There was really only one thing that set Lily apart from other ordinary people — Lily Evans was a witch.

The pale stick was in fact a wand. Ten and a quarter inches long and made from willow and unicorn hair, it was exceptionally good for charm work. Lily had put it to good use by adapting a spell to make any object play music when her clock struck eight each morning. Lily still thought the best part about being seventeen was being able to use magic whenever she wanted. Especially since she tended to be a bit messy when she was home from school over the summer. And a glance around her room showed it.

The small desk in front of her bedroom window was covered with piles of parchment, bottles of ink, and several quills and biros. A brush, several hair clips, and a few other odds and ends sat on top of her chest of drawers, along with a red and gold badge with a lion and a golden letter “P” engraved on it. Most of the drawers were open with clothing spilling untidily out of them. There were several black robes draped over a chair near her open wardrobe and hanging inside were four other robes; two were black satin, another was a luxurious emerald green, and the last was made of a simple, lightweight, pale blue fabric. There was also a ruffled pale yellow dress with a satin salmon sash, which looked out of place amongst all the robes.

By the foot of Lily’s bed sat a large trunk filled with much more than it looked like it should be able to hold. Next to the trunk were several newspapers spread out haphazardly on carpet with odd headlines such as _Dragon Steaks Increase to Five Sickles an Ounce, Stealing Squib Sentenced to Three Months in Azkaban,_ and _You-Know-Who Strikes Out Against Muggles_.

A faint tapping drew Lily’s attention to the window. She got out of bed and tugged her long sleeved, red Gryffindor t-shirt down to cover her yellow shorts as she walked over to the window and pulled the curtains back. A barn owl belonging to her best friend, Marlene McKinnon, was hovering outside. Lily yawned as she unlocked the window and pushed it open. The owl flew through the gap and landed on top of the robe-covered chair. He held out a leg and Lily patted its head as she removed the attached letter.

“Hello, Aderyn.” Lily’s voice was still croaky from sleep. She yawned again. “Come on, we’ll go downstairs and get you some water.” She held out her arm and the owl jumped off the chair and settled onto it. Lily grabbed a box of owl treats from her trunk and slipped her wand into a loop she had sewn on her shorts before making her way downstairs.

Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table sipping tea and reading a gossip magazine when Lily entered. Rose Evans’ greying blonde hair was in a loose knot at the back of her head and she was dressed stylishly in a skirt and blouse.

“Morning, Mum,” Lily said, putting Aderyn on the back of a chair. She set the letter from Marlene on the table and then went to the cupboard to get a dish, filling it with water. “Where’s Dad?” she asked. She fed Aderyn an owl treat and set the water in front of him, where he gulped it gratefully.

Her mother looked up from her reading. Her eyes matched Lily’s own and sparkled as she smiled at her daughter. “He’s already gone to the club. Rich wanted to get some extra practice in at the driving range before the others arrived.”

Lily’s father, Rusty, was a Professor of English at Oxford University, specializing in modern literature. During the summer holiday when he didn’t have to teach, he played golf with some of his colleagues.

“Uncle Rich?” Lily asked, referring to her mother’s younger brother. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat down across from her mother. “I thought he was going to the continent this summer. 

Lily’s mum laughed. “Well, you know your uncle. He always changes his plans at the last minute. He’s decided to go in the autumn instead. He says it won’t be as hot then.” 

Lily shook her head, and picked up Marlene’s letter and read it while she ate her cereal.

 

_My dearest friend,_

_Thanks for the sweets from Honeyduke’s. You know how much I love their sugar quills and ice mice. And the bag you sent them in! Did you charm the design yourself? It seems rather intricate with all the shifting patterns. Is everything still all right for the Ministry and Diagon Alley tomorrow? Mum said our Hogwarts letters should be arriving minute now, so we’ll know which books we need to get. Although, I can’t think of what else we’ll need since most of our books from last year should all be the same. Unless of course we have another new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor._

_I’m so glad you agreed to go with me to get my Apparition license. Mum said she’d have been happy to take me but, as you know, since she’s always stopping to chat to all her friends, we’d never get anything done. Not to mention, you’re much more fun to shop with._

_I’ll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron at ten. We can Floo to the Ministry from there, since you’ve never been._

_Cheers,_

_Marlene_

_PS: Mum let slip that your name was brought up for Head Girl along with Doreen Simmons. Although anyone who would choose her instead of you must be mental. Good luck! I know you’ll get it!_

 

“Who’s the letter from, Lily?” her mum asked.

“Marlene, checking about tomorrow and thanking me for the present I sent her for her birthday. We’re going to get her Apparition license and then to Diagon Alley for our school things tomorrow.”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember you mentioning something about that last week.”

“Yeah, and Mum,” Lily said excitedly, “she also said that her mum mentioned something about my name being one of the ones up for Head Girl. And her mum is on the school board for Hogwarts so she would know.”

“Oh, Lily that’s wonderful! When will you know if you’ve got it?”

“Marlene said our Hogwarts letters should be arriving sometime today.” Lily took a last bite of cereal and sent her bowl to the sink with a flick of her wand. “I'm going to go and have a shower,” she said, standing up. “I have some work to finish too. Come along, Aderyn.” Lily left the kitchen, the owl perched on her arm.

“Lily,” her mum called up after her, “don’t forget that Petunia and Vernon are coming over for dinner tonight at five. 

Lily groaned. Petunia was her older sister, and she and Lily didn’t get on very well. When they were younger they had been as close as two sisters could be despite the three years between them. But when Lily had turned eleven and got her Hogwarts letter everything had changed. Odd things had always happened around her, and now they finally knew why. Her parents had been so proud, but Petunia had been strangely silent. When Lily had come home that first summer Petunia had barely spoken to her. She couldn’t figure out what had changed, until one night after her third year at Hogwarts, she had lost her temper. She had been arguing with Petunia over which program to watch on the telly. They were fighting over the remote when Lily had pulled out her wand and yelled _Accio._ The remote had flown into her hand and Lily had smiled triumphantly at Petunia only to see her shaking and staring at her in horror. 

 _“Freak! You’re nothing but an unnatural freak!” Petunia had screamed at her. “People like you shouldn’t be allowed to live among those of us who are normal!”_

The room had rung with silence. Then Petunia had shrieked as an owl swooped through the open window and dropped a letter in front of Lily before flying back out. Lily knew that she had gotten into trouble for using magic, but she didn’t care. Petunia’s words had still been ringing in her ears. Tears blurred her vision as she ran upstairs and fell onto her bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Petunia hadn’t spoken to her since then, unless she absolutely had to. Even last year, when Lily had been a bridesmaid at Petunia’s wedding to Vernon (and only at her mother’s insistence), they had barely exchanged a word.

Lily groaned again, knowing dinner tonight was going to be torture.

 

0o0o0o0o0

 

Lily walked down the stairs that evening as if she were going to a funeral. Vernon Dursley, Petunia’s husband, was the most insufferable person Lily had ever met. He was an up-and-coming (his words) employee of a firm that made drills and that was all he would ever talk about. Drills, drills, drills. Lily didn’t understand his fascination with them. Even Petunia would sometimes get a glazed look on her face. Lily couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be married to him. 

Lily entered the kitchen just as the doorbell rang and her father hurried to answer it. She hoped she’d be able to change the subject to something more interesting than drills. Even golf would be better, since as boring as she thought the game was, she at least had an opinion about it.

“Lily, come help me finish setting the table please,” her mother called from the dining room.

“What’s still needed?” Lily called back.

“Just the cutlery.” 

“All right.” Lily got the correct amount of forks, spoons, and knives from the drawer and carried them into the dining room.

“Has your Hogwarts letter come yet?”

“No. I thought it would be here by now though.” As she laid the cutlery on the table, her mother let out a small sigh.

“What is it?” Lily asked her.

“Oh, nothing really, just that — well, I talked with Petunia this afternoon and she still hasn’t told Vernon about, well that you’re —“ 

“That I’m a witch,” Lily finished for her.

“Yes.” 

“It’s all right. I know how she feels about it. Don’t worry, I won’t say anything I shouldn’t.”

Her mother glanced at her sadly. “Oh, Lily, I’m sure she’ll come around.”

Lily snorted. “I won’t hold my breath.”

Her mother looked as if she was going to say something more, but then Petunia and Vernon walked into the room followed by Lily’s father, a big, brawny man with blue eyes and the same thick, red hair Lily had. He smiled and winked at Lily when he saw her. 

Her mother bustled over to give Petunia a hug. Her sister, as always, was dressed to perfection. Her blonde hair was styled perfectly and she wore a slim blue skirt and a white blouse with a matching set of jewellery. Her pale eyes, however, did nothing to soften her horsy-looking face, and her long neck reminded Lily of a giraffe. A part of her hated thinking so unkindly of her sister, but after all the bitterness and disapproval Petunia had thrown at her over the years, it was hard to do otherwise. 

Vernon greeted her mother and bent to kiss her on the cheek, although it was really more of a bump since he was so fleshy. He had almost no neck and a huge moustache, and his thinning brown hair was plastered to his head. Lily had no idea what Petunia saw in him. Then again, it _was_ Petunia. She was very materialistic and in her mind, Vernon’s salary must make up for all his faults.

Petunia nodded stiffly at Lily and Vernon followed suit. An awkward silence followed until Lily’s mother invited them to sit down and asked Lily to help bring the food out to the table. 

Dinner was a boring affair. Once everyone had been served, Vernon started talking about his drill firm. Lily’s father did manage to change the subject to the repairs being done on the motorway for about ten minutes but, with a relentlessness Lily almost admired, Vernon changed it back to his firm — talking about how drills were needed for the workers to do their job properly (which he didn’t think they were). Every so often Petunia would give Lily a funny look, but would look away when Lily eyed her questioningly.

Finally, dinner ended and Lily’s mother ushered everyone into the family room before she and Lily cleared the table and made tea. Her mother had just finished serving everyone when something tapped at the window. Lily shot her parents a fearful look. Her father looked at her and mouthed, “What is it?”

“My Hogwarts letter,” she mouthed back. Her father shrugged as if to say, “Nothing for it!” and settled back onto the sofa he was sitting on. Lily thought he almost looked amused.

Lily took a deep breath, rose from where she was sitting on the sofa next to her father, and went to open the window.

Petunia glared at her. “What are you doing?” she asked sharply.

“Opening the window,” Lily replied, without looking at her.

Petunia moved to stop her but Lily already had the window open, and a tawny owl flew through and landed on the coffee table nearest to Vernon. The owl blinked at him steadily as Vernon looked at it as if it was a cockroach. Lily untied the letter from its leg and the owl dipped its beak into Vernon’s tea several times before flying back out the window. Lily shut it and sat back down on the sofa.

The clock ticked loudly in the silent room.

Finally Vernon broke the silence. “What is _that?_ ” he demanded, nodding disdainfully at the letter Lily held.

“My Hogwarts letter,” she replied.

“Hogwarts? What’s that?

“The school I go to.”

“Hogwarts, _Hogwarts_? Never heard of it,” Vernon huffed. “What kind of school sends a letter with a ruddy owl?”

Petunia let out a strangled sound. She had a terrified look on her face. Lily wasn’t surprised. This had to be Petunia’s worst nightmare come to life. Lily had told Petunia to tell him herself once they had gotten married, but it was too late now.

“Hogwarts is a school for witchcraft and wizardry,” Lily replied. “A school for people who can do magic. A Muggle, of course wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“Muggle?” he sputtered, turning a darker shade of purple. “What is a _Muggle_?”

“A person who’s not magical.”

“Magic. What’s this nonsense about magic? There’s no such thing as—”

“Magic?” Lily interrupted him. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I can assure you there is.”

“So you’re telling me you're one of these magical people. A—”

“Freak!” Petunia screamed at Lily, jumping up from where she was sitting. Lily started and dropped the letter she was holding. “You're nothing but a _freak_. I told you to keep it to yourself! To keep your unnaturalness away from me and my husband.” Petunia tugged on Vernon’s arm. “Come, Vernon, we’re leaving. I don’t want to spend another minute in her presence.” 

“You stay away from us!” Vernon yelled as Petunia dragged him out the door. “You and your _magic._ ” He said the word as if it were a swear word. The front door slammed shut after them. 

“Oh, what I wouldn’t give to turn them in to toads!” Lily said angrily. 

“Lily, honey.” Her mum stood up and gave Lily a hug. “I know she said some awful things — Vernon too, for that matter. But she _is_ still your sister. She’ll come around.” 

“No, she won’t. She’s been like this ever since I got in. She thinks I’m a freak.”

“You're not a freak, Lily, and you know that. We know it too,” her father said. “Now come and sit down and open the letter. It looks rather thick, so it must have good news.” He guided her back to the sofa and Lily sat down. He picked the letter up from where it had fallen to the floor and handed it to her. 

Lily cracked the seal and pulled out the pages. A faint “Oh” of surprise fell from her lips when a shiny badge fell onto her lap. She stared at it for a moment before reading the letter.

 

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_As Head of Gryffindor House, I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected as Head Girl for your seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed in this letter are your new badge and the list of school supplies you will need for this year._

_You and the Head Boy are expected to hold a meeting with the Prefects on the Hogwarts Express and patrol the train along with them. Since you have been a Prefect for the past two years, I am sure this will come as no surprise to you. Professor Dumbledore wishes to meet with you and the Head Boy directly after the Welcoming Feast._

_As usual, the school train will be departing for Hogwarts from King’s Cross Station, platform 9 ¾ at eleven o’clock on September 1._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

 

Lily let out a joyful laugh.

“What is it?” her father asked.

“I did it! I’m Head Girl!”

“Oh, Lily, that’s wonderful!” her mother exclaimed. Her father hugged her, picking her up and swinging her around. He kissed her cheek before putting her back down. “This calls for celebration! Rose, is there any champagne?”

“No, we took what we had to the Bakers’ anniversary two weeks ago.”

“That’s all right.” Lily said. “Let me get my wand from upstairs. Be right back.”

Lily dashed upstairs and grabbed her wand off her dresser (she had left it upstairs during dinner so she wouldn’t be tempted to hex Petunia or Vernon). When she got back downstairs, she flicked her wand at the teapot and it transfigured into a champagne bottle. A squint of concentration, a swish and twist of her wrist had the contents lightening in colour and forming fizzy bubbles. A final flick of her wand had three champagne flutes appearing, floating in midair. 

Her mother put a hand against her chest. “Oh, my, I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to you doing that.” 

Lily smiled as they each took a glass. “It’s still tea, really,” she explained, “but it looks and tastes like champagne now.” While it was possible to conjure up a bottle of champagne, it had to come from somewhere first. Even magic had its limitations. Lily’s father picked up the bottle of champagne and poured some into each of the glasses. 

“A toast,” he said, “to Lily and another wonderful year at Hogwarts!”

“To a wonderful year!” Lily and her mother repeated. They clinked their glasses together and sipped. 

Her father let out a sound of surprise. “This tastes excellent.” 

Lily smiled. “I’ve always had a knack for charms.” Her parents laughed, and they all sat down on the sofa to talk. 

Later that night, as Lily was getting ready for bed she couldn’t help thinking what wonderful parents she had. She didn’t know what she would do without them. She grinned, climbed into bed, and was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day was surprisingly sunny, a perfect day for shopping in Diagon Alley. Light was streaming through Lily’s open window and a warm summer breeze was blowing through the opening. Lily was sitting at her desk making some final corrections on the Potions essay that had been set over the summer holiday. It was the last bit of homework she had to finish and she had saved it for last since she knew it would be the easiest. Potions and Charms where her best subjects at Hogwarts, but Potions had always come more naturally to her than Charms did. Professor Slughorn, the Potions master, was always raving about how he had never taught anyone so talented. While Lily doubted the truth of that statement, she knew she was easily one of the best Potions students currently at Hogwarts. She smiled as she added a final sentence to the end of the essay. Slughorn had always liked her humour when it came to potions. 

Lily rolled up the essay and neatly tied it with a ribbon. Then she stood up from her desk and went over to her wardrobe, thinking that she should put her blue robe on over her grey pleated skirt and short-sleeved shirt. She shook her head at the thought. It was too hot to wear a robe and she wondered for the hundredth time why wizards bothered to wear them in the first place. As she picked up her wand from her desk, she realized with a wry smile that it didn’t matter what witches and wizards wore when they could easily just cool themselves off with magic if they needed to. Sometimes she forgot how versatile magic was. After putting her wand away in a pocket, she dug around in her trunk for the cloth bag that held what remained of the wizarding money she still had left from the last school year. Testing its weight she knew she would need to ask her parents for some Muggle money to exchange at Gringotts. 

Her mum was no where to be seen when Lily got downstairs and she was wondering where she had gone when she spied a note on the kitchen counter. Lily picked up the flower-bordered paper and read her mum’s neat script.

 

_Lily Darling,_

_Went shopping at the market. There’s seventy pounds in an envelope on your father’s desk for your school things. I added a bit extra for you to get yourself something special for becoming Head Girl. We’re so proud of you!_

_Love,_

_Mum_

 

Lily walked through the living room and into her father’s study. His desk was neatly organized. The post from that morning was sorted on one side and on the other several golf scorecards were held together with a clip. Her father’s scores where outlined with a red marker. A white envelope with her name written on it was lying on the centre of the desk. There were lilies sketched around her name. Lily smiled; her father had done that ever since she was little. She was glad to see that he still kept up the habit even though she was seventeen. She glanced inside the envelope. Combined with the money she earned from helping some of their neighbours with their gardening, Lily had more than enough to last her through the school year.

She dashed back upstairs to get her school list, onto which she had added everything she would need for the coming year, before closing her eyes and Apparating. Although she had passed her test at the end of last school year and had been Apparating off and on during the summer she still wasn’t quite used to the feeling of been sucked through a tube. She felt a strange kinship with dirt as it was being vacuumed up at these times. 

She appeared in the small alley near the Leaky Cauldron that was set aside for witches and wizards Apparating to the establishment. The pavement was quite crowded with Muggles who walked passed the door to the Leaky Cauldron as though it wasn’t there. Lily was always amazed at how magic worked with things like this. Her parents hadn’t even been able to see it the few times that they had come with Lily to Diagon Alley. She had always had to guide them through the door. 

The hubbub of noise washed over Lily as she opened the door. Tom, the old, bald, and nearly toothless bartender, looked up from the table he was wiping down and nodded in greeting as Lily entered the pub. She smiled back and glanced around the dark, smoky room for Marlene. Spying her sitting on a stool at the bar, Lily picked her way through the many tables towards the short, curly-haired girl. When she reached her, Lily tapped her on the shoulder. Marlene spun around on the stool, her brown hair bouncing.

“Lily!” she exclaimed, leaping up and giving Lily a hug. Lily returned the hug with equal vigour. She hadn’t seen Marlene since they had gotten off the Express at the end of last year. Even though they had owled each other frequently, it wasn't the same as seeing her in person. 

“It’s so good to see you finally,” Marlene continued. “Oh Merlin, your hair!” 

Lily bit her lip to hide her grin. In all the years Marlene had known her, Lily had never let her hair grow past her shoulders, saying it was too much bother if it was any longer. Now though, she had allowed her hair to grow (with the help of a few beauty charms she had seen _Witch Weekly_ ) in a thick, dark red sheet to the middle of her back.

“I’ve been telling you to grow your hair out for ages and you never once listened,” Marlene said, forcing Lily to turn around so she could get a better look. “What made you decide to do it?”

“I suppose I just wanted a change.” Lily shrugged. “And it’s easier to manage now that I can use magic all the time. Are you ready to go then? We have a lot to get done today and I need to stop at Gringotts before we shop.” 

Marlene nodded and she and Lily walked over to the fireplace. Lily dropped a Knut into a box that was mounted on the wall next to it. A handful of glittering Floo powder spilled into a small cup directly below. Lily poured half the powder into her hand and gave the rest to Marlene. Marlene replaced the cup and Lily threw her powder into the flames. They roared and turned emerald green. Lily stepped into the flames and shouted, “Ministry of Magic.” She spun through the flames and slid out onto a cool tiled floor. 

Lily got to her feet and cleaned the soot off her robes with a wave of her wand as she looked around. This was the first time she had been to the Ministry. The atrium was huge and busy, with a peacock-blue ceiling inlaid with golden symbols that were constantly moving. Lily guessed that they were some type of magical ward or charm that protected the Ministry from collapsing since it was located underground. There were seven fireplaces along opposite walls of the hall for arrival and departure by the Floo Network, and witches and wizards where Apparating and Disapparating from all directions. Almost directly in front of her was a huge golden fountain. She moved from in front of the fireplace as the flames turned green once more. A few seconds later Marlene came tumbling out. She and Lily were both rather uncoordinated when it came to flooing. 

“I can’t _wait_ until I have my Apparition license,” Marlene said, coughing. 

“Well, you don’t have long.” Lily smiled and added mischievously, “Unless you fail.” 

“Oh, don’t joke about it!” Marlene whined. “Come on, we have to get visitor badges.” Lily just laughed as she and Marlene weaved their way through all of the Ministry employees to the visitor’s entrance on the far side of the atrium. 

“You’ll be fine. Besides, you can’t be any worse than Peter Pettigrew was.”

“True. Gosh, I almost wish I had been there. I can’t believe he left his clothes behind!” 

“I know, I can still picture them lying there on the ground. Mr. Twycross just stood there staring at them trying to work out what happened. And then Peter reappears trying to cover his-well, you know, I didn’t know a person could blush all over like that. I guess he was so focused on the ‘destination’ and ‘determination’ parts that he forgot the ‘deliberation’ of taking everything with him.” 

Marlene laughed hysterically at Lily’s play on the three words that their Apparition instructor had constantly used.

They reached the visitor’s entrance, where the witch behind the glass asked them why they were at the Ministry and gave them each a rectangular, silver badge inscribed with their name and Apparition Testing. They pinned the badges to their robes where they could be easily seen.

As they made their way back across the room they passed the golden fountain situated in the middle, Lily stopped and looked at it more closely. At the centre was a tall noble-looking wizard and surrounding him were a witch, a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. The centaur, goblin and house-elf were looking up at the witch and wizard adoringly. Jets of sparkling water were spouting out from the two wands, the tip of the centaur’s arrow, the point of the goblin’s hat, and both of the house-elf’s ears. Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts glittered in the shallow pool of water the statues stood in. A water-splattered sign proclaimed: _All proceeds from the Fountain of Magical Brethren will be given to St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries._ Lily fished in her money bag for a Sickle and threw it into the fountain with the rest of the coins. Marlene, standing next to her, did the same. 

“If I pass my test I’ll throw in a Galleon next time I’m here,” she said. 

Lily laughed and tossed in another sickle. “For luck, then,” she told Marlene. 

They linked arms and chatted happily as they walked towards the golden gates, past which Marlene said were the lifts. They paused at a desk to the left of the gates behind which a young, badly shaven guard, sat sprawled in an uncomfortable looking chair, reading the _Daily Prophet_. He put the paper down as they approached and grunted, “Step over here.” 

Marlene and Lily walked to the side of the desk and the wizard stood and passed a long, golden rod over the front and back of each of them. He nodded, satisfied, and then asked for their wands. Marlene handed hers to him first. He dropped it onto an instrument that looked like a set of scales with only one dish. It began to vibrate and a narrow strip of parchment came out of a slit in the base. The wizard tore it off. “Nine inches, unicorn tail core, maple, has been in use six years,” he said, apparently reading what was written on the slip of parchment. “That correct?”

Marlene nodded and he handed her wand back to her and impaled the slip of parchment on a small brass spike. Lily gave him her wand and set it onto the instrument as well. 

“Ten and a quarter inches, unicorn tail core, willow, has been in use six years. That correct?” he asked her. 

“Yes,” Lily answered. 

“Nice wand,” he said, giving it back to her. “Feels quite powerful.” He smiled at her as he punctured the parchment on the brass spike on top of Marlene’s. Lily smiled hesitantly back at him.

“Thanks,” Marlene said, rolling her eyes. She walked through the golden doors and Lily followed her, waving goodbye to the wizard. He wasn’t terrible looking, if you could see past the scraggly whiskers. 

She caught up with Marlene, who gave her an exasperated look. 

“What?” Lily asked, defensively as they got into one of the twelve lifts. The gold gate rattled shut and the lift jolted to a start. A cool female voice announced each level as they passed. 

“Can’t you go anywhere without some wizard flirting with you? Honestly, you’re too pretty for your own good.” 

“Oh, shut up, I am not.” 

Marlene raised her eyebrows at Lily. “You’re tall, curvy in all the right places, your hair — now that you’ve actually done something with it — is gorgeous, and even without all that, there’re your eyes.” They got off at the sixth level and followed the signs down the narrow hall and through the door with _Apparition Test Centre_ written on it in flowing golden script. 

Lily huffed. “It’s not like wizards never flirt with you, so I don’t want to hear it.”

Marlene laughed. “That’s true.” The room they had entered was small. Two narrow doors were spaced out along one wall and on the adjourning wall were several threadbare chairs. Across from the chairs was a large desk covered in parchment. A squint eyed witch sat behind it reading _Witch Weekly_ — whose cover pictured a good-looking wizard who wore black robes that were tastefully undone and hinted at a muscular chest — and chewing a piece of gum. When Lily and Marlene entered, the witch looked up and put her magazine down. 

“How may I help you?” she asked in a nasal voice. 

“I’m here for my Apparition license,” Marlene said. 

“And you?” the witch questioned Lily. 

“I already have my license,” Lily told her, “I’m just here for moral support.” 

“Fine, sit down then.” The witch waited for Lily to sit down in one of the chairs before turning back to Marlene. “Fill this in,” she said handing her one of the many pieces of parchment on the desk. Marlene filled out the form and handed it back to the witch. She glanced over it and made some additional marks. The witch used her wand to make a copy and handed one of them to Marlene. “Go through there,” she said, pointing to the door on the left. 

Marlene glanced nervously at Lily. 

“You’ll be fine. You’ve been practicing for ages.” 

Marlene took a breath and nodded confidently to herself before disappearing through the door. 

“It’s going to be a while,” the witch said, and then she turned back to her magazine.

Lily picked up a pamphlet to read off of the nearby table and sat back in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position, when the hall door flew open and four boys burst through. The one with a mop of messy black hair led the group. His back was towards Lily and he was pulling a sandy-haired boy — who seemed to be dragging his feet — along with him while another boy, whose dark hair fell artfully over his grey eyes, pushed him from behind. Last through the door was a brown-haired boy, who was trying not to smile at the antics of the others. 

“Peter,” he was saying in a reassuring tone, “just because you failed your test the first time doesn’t mean you’ll fail this time as well.” 

“But, Remus,” the boy whined, his face scrunching up pitifully. 

“Oh, quit your snivelling, Wormtail,” the grey-eyed boy said impatiently, smacking him in the back of the head, as the witch eyed them all disapprovingly from behind her magazine. 

“James,” Peter appealed to the messy-haired boy, whose back was still towards Lily. 

“They’re both right. You need to get over your fear and just do it. Besides,” he continued, choking back laughter, “the worst has already happened, hasn’t it?” James Potter clapped Peter on the shoulder. Sirius Black, who had spied Lily, was grinning and nodded over Potter’s shoulder at her. Potter turned around. 

“Evans!” he called out, a huge grin splitting his face. “Fancy meeting you here.” 

“Potter, a _pleasure_ , as always,” Lily drawled sarcastically, barely containing the desire to roll her eyes. 

Potter walked over and sat down in the chair next to her, throwing an arm over her shoulders. Lily looked over at him, with raised eyebrows. He was still the same attractive, messy haired boy with the cocky hazel eyes that she remembered. In the same year and house as her at Hogwarts, he was the most obnoxious person she had ever met — well, aside from Vernon Dursley. While she didn’t exactly hate him, they had never got along either. He and his cronies, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew were famous at school for all the pranks they played. They had nicknamed themselves the Marauders and had made her years at Hogwarts one catastrophe after another. Potter had continuously bothered Lily to go out with him until she told him off at the end their fifth year, saying that she would rather date the giant squid. It seemed as though he had finally taken the hint, for he hadn’t asked her out since. His need for her attention had remained the same though, because he had continued to pester her with other things. 

Potter shifted his position so that he could read the pamphlet she held from over her shoulder. Lily shot him an exasperated look, shrugged his arm off of her and moved to the next chair, away from him. He made a tsking noise and shifted over too. He put his elbow on the arm of his chair and rested his head in his hand, looking at Lily adoringly from behind his glasses. Every now and then he let out a huge sigh. Lily ignored him until finally she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Would you knock it off!” she exclaimed at him. “Merlin, Potter, you’re _annoying_.” 

“Nah, you just make it really easy.” 

“Make what really easy?” 

“So, you want to be a Healer?” he asked, completely ignoring her question. 

“What?” 

He gestured to the pamphlet that was in her hand. “You’re reading about what you need to do in order to become a Healer.” 

“Oh. No, I just didn’t have anything else to do while I waited for Marlene.” 

“Well, now you do.”

“Now I do, what?” 

“Have something else to do.” 

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. “What, you mean being bothered by you? I’d as soon as—” 

Sirius and Remus, who had been listening while Peter filled out his forms and went to take his test, burst out laughing, interrupting her. “Prongs,” Sirius said, “I think she’s trying to tell you something.” 

“Yeah,” Remus chipped in, “you might want to reinvent your strategy.” 

“No,” Potter disagreed, “this one seems to be working just fine.” 

“What is it, anyway? I forget.” 

“Annoying her until she gives in.” 

Lily huffed. “In your dreams, Potter.” 

“Lily, darling, my dreams of you are much, _much_ , more exhilarating.” Potter waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her, as Lily glared, daring him to elaborate. 

“Cuddling in the common room, holding hands while shopping in Hogsmeade, and then of course a moonlit stroll through the Hogwarts grounds.”

“What’s this about moonlight strolls?” Marlene asked, entering the room smiling happily. 

“I’m just telling Evans what we’re going to be doing on our first date,” Potter answered, grinning so wide, Lily could almost see his molars. 

“Date?” Marlene stared at Lily in shock. “You agreed to go on a date?” 

“You know very well I haven’t.” She turned to Potter angrily. “For the last time, Potter — I won’t go out with you!” 

“Come on, Evans. One date, it won’t kill you. First Hogsmeade weekend.” 

Lily opened her mouth to retort and then closed it, thinking about it seriously as an idea formed in her mind. Finally, she said slowly, “ _If_ I agree, will you promise to _never_ ask me again?” 

“Sure.” He gave a nonchalant shrug. 

“Fine then, if that’s what it takes to get you to leave me alone, first Hogsmeade weekend.” She looked as though she had agreed to swallow poison. “And I don’t want to hear a word about it until then. Not from you or your friends.”

Potter blinked at her. “R-really?” He seemed stunned and his friends were all snickering into their hands. “You’ll really go on a date with me the first Hogsmeade weekend?” 

Lily looked at him pointedly. “If you bring it up again, our agreement is null and void, you understand? And you can never ask me out again.”

Potter nodded frantically. “I — yes, I promise.” Lily heard Sirius whispering something to Remus, though she couldn’t make out what was said. 

“First Hogsmeade weekend, then.” Lily turned to Marlene’s wide-eyed face and tilted her head. “You passed your test?” she asked.

Marlene cleared her throat. “Er, yes.” 

Lily grinned at her. “Wonderful. Let’s get to Diagon Alley, shall we?” She walked to the door, grabbing Marlene by the arm on her way, leaving a stunned group of boys behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily leant against a marble pillar in Gringotts Bank and waited for Marlene to show up. They had apparated from the Ministry as the same time, but Marlene must have gone to a different location. Lily looked up at the ceiling still not quite believing that she had agreed to go to on a date with James Potter thirty minutes earlier. He had been asking her out constantly since third year and she had never once thought about agreeing before. After fifth year, when he had finally stopped asking her, Lily was surprised. She had told him off in worse ways over the years, so why had the comment about the giant squid been the one finally get through his thick head that she wasn’t interested? 

Lily sighed and crossed her arms, staring blankly at the floor in front of her. In truth, she had almost missed him constantly asking. Not because she wanted him to or because she was flattered by it, but because she _knew_ that he would. There was something dependable about it. Practically everyday for three years, there was some form of “Go out with me, Evans,” directed towards her. Written notes, shouted at her in the hallways, and once Potter had even charmed the candles in the Great Hall to say it during breakfast. Lily had hexed his eyebrows off for that one. 

Last year he had stopped all that. He still called out to her in the hallways (asking to copy her notes or pointing out that he had learned a new spell faster than she did), badgered her in the common room (“Come on Evans, we need another player for exploding snap” or “I bet Sirius a Galleon that you won’t say bollocks”), and got points taken away for talking to her in class. Not once though, did he ask for a date. 

It had been odd. Mostly a good odd, but sometimes she had missed it. Lily knew she had a temper, and after a long day, it was nice to have a legitimate reason to yell at someone.

Her gaze refocused as the doors to Gringotts opened and she saw Marlene walking towards her. Lily quickly straightened and adopted a devil-may-care look on her face. 

“Oh good, you’re here. I apparated a few shops too far and had to navigate through the crowd. Now, are we finally going to discuss the hippogriff in the room?” Marlene looked at her quizzically. “You do realize that you agreed to a date with James Potter, don’t you?” 

Lily groaned and glanced at her sulkily. “I’d rather not think about it.”

Marlene nodded in understanding. She studied Lily’s face and opened her mouth as if to say something, then shook her head, apparently deciding against it. 

“What?” Lily asked her. 

“Nothing — well, it’s just that — you really don’t hate him all that much, do you?” 

Lily looked her in the eye. “No,” she said so quietly that Marlene almost didn’t hear her. “No, I don’t _hate_ him all that much. I do think he’s an annoying, conceited bully though — at least most of the time. He was a bit different last year.” 

Marlene nodded again as if something was beginning to make sense to her. “Well, it’s a good thing you made plans so far in advance,” she couldn’t resist teasing her, “you have loads of time to decide what to wear. You said you went shopping a few weeks ago, you can wear something you got then.” 

Lily made a face at her. “That last thing I want to think about right now is my date with Potter. Come on, I have to exchange some money. Do you have to run down to your vault?” 

“No, Mum got some Galleons out for me the other day, thank goodness. Those carts always make me ill.” 

After exchanging Lily’s Muggle pounds for wizard gold, they walked out the doors of Gringotts and down the many steps onto the curving streets of Diagon Alley. Witches, wizards, and a few odd Muggle relations darted back and forth between the busy shops. Happy chatter floated up into the warm air and, every so often, birds flew by in the sunny, cloudy sky.

Lily took a deep breath, arms outstretched. A smile broke out across her face and she laughed happily. “I love it here!” she exclaimed. “Every time I come it’s like I can forget everything else and just relax and have fun.” Her green eyes sparkled and her red hair streamed out behind her as she continued to spin. “Where should we go first?” 

“Madam Malkin’s,” Marlene replied, amused by Lily’s antics. “I need new dress robes. Mum says that I have to go to the Ministry Ball with her this year seeing as I’m seventeen now.” 

“All right,” Lily agreed happily. “I could use some new school robes. We can go to Florean Fortescue’s afterwards.” 

“Didn’t you just get robes last year?” 

“Yes, but most of them are too small now. Seems I’ve grown another inch or two. And,” she added slyly, “now that I’m Head Girl, I should get some made up specially for that.” 

“That’s right!” Marlene exclaimed, tapping her palm against her forehead. “I can’t believe I forgot to ask you. I meant to, really I did, it’s just with my Apparition test and everything it must have slipped my mind. When did you get the letter?” 

“It came last night like you said it would. Petunia and Vernon were over for dinner. It was quite a shock for Vernon,” Lily snickered, “seeing as how Petunia hadn’t told him I’m a witch.”

Lily pulled open the door to the robe shop. The owner, Madam Malkin, a squat, smiling witch who was dressed all in mauve, greeted them as they entered.

“Hello, dears,” she said. “What can I help you with today?” 

“I’d like new dress robes,” Marlene told her and Madam Malkin bustled her over to the rack that held witches’ dress robes in a variety of colours. A book with custom designs floated over next to her. 

“Just pick out the ones you like and we can get them fitted for you. Now, what about you dear?” she asked, turning to Lily.

“I need new school robes for Hogwarts,” Lily said. “I’m Head Girl this year, so I was hoping you might have some robes that are a bit more, er, official, then the ordinary ones.” 

“Head Girl — oh, congratulations!” Madam Malkin clasped her hands together and gave a small jump of excitement. “I know just the thing. Come with me.” She pulled Lily with her towards the back of the shop. After asking Lily which house she was in, Madam Malkin rooted through a rack filled with black robes until she found what she was looking for. 

Lily gasped when she showed them to her. “Oh, they’re perfect!” 

Madam Malkin smiled. “And they’re self-ironing too, so you needn’t worry about wrinkles. Well then, hop up on the stool and we’ll get them fitted.” 

Lily stepped onto the stool and Madam Malkin handed Lily the robes to try on. The robes, made from a heavy, silky material, seemed to dance around Lily as she pulled them on. Unlike the school robes she had gotten before, these felt as though they had been made just for her. They fastened with three gold clasps at chest level, and instead of the high-necked, rounded collar, these robes had a low-cut v-neck. The best feature though, was the red border at the collar, down the opening in the front, and at the very ends of the sleeves. Lily glanced in the mirrors hanging on the walls as Madam Malkin fitted the robes to her. 

“Oh, Lily, they look wonderful!” Marlene said, coming to join them with two dress robes draped over her arm. 

“They do, don’t they,” Lily agreed with her. “I actually feel like a Head Girl in them.” 

“Well you certainly look like one. Now which do you think I should get?” Marlene held first lavender and then mint green robes up against her. 

“Hmm…” Lily considered them for a moment. “The green ones, I think. The robes you have now are lavender, so you should get something different.” 

“That’s what I was thinking, too.” 

“All right, dear, you’re all done.” Madame Malkin folded the last robe, and handed a stack of them to Lily. She turned to Marlene. “A lovely choice, dear,” she said when she saw which robes Marlene had chosen. “Up you go then.” 

After getting Marlene’s dress robes fitted and paying for their garments, the girls left the shop and crossed the wide street to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, swinging their bags behind them. Once they had got their ice cream they sat at one of the tables outside the shop, eating happily. 

“We should probably go to Flourish and Blotts next,” Lily said, taking a huge bite of her chocolate and raspberry ripple ice cream cone. 

“And the stationary shop after that. Do you need to stop at the Apothecary as well?” 

“I should, I’m running low on some Potions ingredients.” 

Marlene shuddered as she ate the nuts off her sundae. “I don’t understand how you can stand taking the N.E.W.T. class, what with Slughorn always going on about his favourite students and that ridiculous club of his.” 

Lily laughed. “It’s not so bad.” 

“You just say so because you’re in it. Besides, there’s the class itself, I never understood it.” 

“It’s a bit like making cooking the Muggle way, really.” Lily paused. “Well, except the blowing up in your face if you’re not careful part, of course.” 

“Of course.” 

“Although,” Lily mused, “now that I mention about it, my dad did manage to do that with a roast one time when I was younger. Mum just about killed him for it.” 

Once they had finished their ice cream, they picked up their bags and went to Flourish and Blotts. The display window was piled high with school texts for first years. 

“Oh, look,” Marlene said as they entered the shop. “Lockhart’s got another book out.” 

Lily looked at the display Marlene was gesturing to and picked up one of the thick, purple books entitled _Gadding with Ghouls_ _by Gilderoy Lockhart_. There was a man with wavy blonde hair wearing bright yellow robes and smiling brilliantly pictured on the front. Every so often the Lockhart would toss his hair and give a roguish wink. 

“Do you think this bloke really did all that?” she asked sceptically, putting the book back on the table. 

“I suppose,” Marlene answered with a shrug. “Mum has his first book and he’s written a guide for household pests, too. Mum thinks he’s the best thing since self-correcting quills came out. Apparently, he single-handedly got rid of this banshee that was terrorizing a village. It looks like he’s bagged himself a ghoul this time. I wonder what’s next. A vampire, perhaps?” 

“He’s too pretty to have done those things, if you ask me. I mean, if you tangled with a banshee, you’d think you’d at least have a scar to show for it.” Lily shrugged. 

“He probably has a stylist for the book cover photos and all the appearances he does. I’m sure he doesn’t dress like that _all_ the time. Ah, well. Let’s get our books. I need parchment, quills and ink, as well.” 

They purchased the school books they needed and Lily also bought a copy of _The Healer’s Helpmate._ Just because she didn’t want to become a Healer didn’t mean she had no interest in the subject. Besides, she had a feeling it would be useful in the years to come when there wasn’t a Madame Pomfrey around. 

Lily accidentally bumped into a tall figure as she exited Flourish and Blotts. A pair of cold, grey eyes met hers as she turned to apologize and a chill washed over her. 

“Excuse me,” Lily muttered. 

The man’s lip curled up into a sneer and he brushed at his pristine robes, as though wiping away something unpleasant. “Filthy Mudblood,” he whispered nastily, as he swept passed her. 

She hurried to catch up to Marlene who was already next door at the stationary shop, trying to figure out why he looked familiar, not noticing the man’s gaze following her progress, a look of unwarranted hate marring his pointed face. 

Lily must have looked upset, for Marlene looked at her quizzically. Lily just shook her head. “It’s nothing.” 

The smell of fresh parchment and ink was overwhelming. One side of the shop featured parchment of all sorts — from each colour of the rainbow to minuscule pieces that could fit inside a very small locket. There was even scented parchment to go with the scented ink on the other side of the shop. Lily picked up two jars of black ink, one blue, and some colour-changing ink along with several rolls of parchment, including some in a pretty lilac colour. 

They stopped outside the stationary shop to organize their purchases and Lily counted her remaining gold to see how much she had left. She was wondering why she had more than she expected, when she remembered her mother had given her extra, with orders to get something special for becoming Head Girl. 

“What are you going to get?” Marlene asked, when Lily mentioned it to her.

 “I don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about it.” 

“How about a pet? Like an owl.” 

“I don’t really need an owl. I can just use the school ones.” 

“But what about after Hogwarts? You won’t be able to use the school owls then.” 

“No, but I can get my own owl then if I need too. Besides,” she added, “if we get a flat together, like we’ve talked about, I can just use yours.” 

“True…” Marlene paused, thinking. “A cat! You can get a cat.”

“That’s no good, I’m allergic.” 

“Oh, that’s right,” Marlene huffed. “Well, you’re no help. Honestly! Not to worry though,” she said smiling. “I’ll come up with something before long.” 

Lily laughed. “Let’s go to the Apothecary, you can wait outside it you don’t want to deal with the smell.” 

They were passing in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies when the door shot open and Potter, Sirius, Remus, and Peter came tumbling out, laughing hysterically. 

“Oh, no,” Lily muttered, stopping suddenly, “I thought we left them at the Ministry.” 

Marlene smiled sceptically at her. “What, you expected them to stay there all day?” 

“It would have been nice,” Lily pouted as the boys stopped in front of the young witches. 

“What would have been nice?” Sirius asked. 

“Oh, go away,” Lily groaned. 

“But, Evans, it’s been too long since we last saw each other,” said Potter with a teasing grin. After six years of practice at Hogwarts, he knew just how to annoy her. 

“I think you mean it hasn’t been long enough, Potter,” retorted Lily. 

“Ah, Evans, you break my heart.” Potter put a hand to his chest faintly, got down on one knee in front of her and when he grabbed her hand, for some odd reason, Lily’s heart skipped a beat. His friends burst out laughing as he spoke in a loud voice, “Lily, flower of my desire, surely you know how you wound me. I pine away each and every day just-” 

Lily rolled her eyes in disgust at him, but a closer look showed that she was fighting back a smile. “Let’s go, Marlene,” she said over Potter’s warbling. “We have more important things to do then stand here and listen to this.” She grabbed a giggling Marlene by the arm and pulled her down the street. 

Potter stood up and called after them, “Don’t forget about our agreement, Evans!” 

“If you mention it one more time, Potter, _you_ can forget about it!” Lily shouted back, over her shoulder. 

“It’s so obvious,” Marlene commented, shaking her head slightly. 

“What?” Lily asked her in confusion. 

“You need to snog him and get it over with,” she stated matter-of-factly. 

“I-I do _not_!” Lily sputtered. 

“Hello again, darlings!” Sirius had snuck up behind them. 

“Why are you following us?” Lily cried, as Marlene choked back laughter. 

“Why to go to the Apothecary, of course,” Potter replied, putting his arm around Lily’s shoulder and trying to take her bags for her. 

“Oh, bugger off, Potter,” Lily spat, pushing him away and hitting him with one of her bags.

“Yes, dear,” he said seriously, as Lily fumed. “So, did you get Head Girl, Evans?” asked Potter, changing the subject. 

Lily answered grudgingly, “Yes.” This is how conversations with Potter always went. First he would annoy her until she snapped or stormed off, and then he would either leave her alone or completely change the subject and continue talking as if nothing had happened. 

“Head Girl! Uh-oh, we’d better be extra careful this year, then,” Black put in. “But, then again, maybe not. After all we’ve got the He-omph!” Black glared at Potter, who had elbowed him in the side. “What was that for?” 

“You’ve got the what?” Marlene wanted to know. 

“It’s not important,” Potter replied hurriedly. “Look, here we are.” He opened the door to the Apothecary and Lily and Marlene entered with the boys following behind. 

While Lily loved Potions, getting the ingredients was a completely different matter. The Apothecary itself was fascinating. It was brightly lit and jars of dried roots, herbs, and bright powders lined the walls from floor to ceiling, from which bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and claws hung like stalactites. There were also barrels on the floor filled with slimy ingredients, such as fish eggs, frog spawn, and several kinds of animal entrails. However, even the vast display couldn’t make up for the mixed smell of bad eggs and rotten cabbages. 

“Urgh!” Sirius made a face and pinched his nose as he entered. “I hate this place. It smells like my brother’s socks.” 

“Have you ever gotten a whiff of your _own_ socks?” Remus asked him. “They smell worse.” Everyone laughed and Sirius shot Remus a dirty look. 

“I may have horrid smelling socks, but at least I can brew a decent potion,” Sirius shot back. 

Remus sighed. “Rub it in, why don’t you.” 

Remus, while brilliant in every other subject, was positively atrocious when it came to Potions. He wasn’t as bad as Peter, but he had blown up his fair share of cauldrons. Needless to say, he had declined taking the N.E.W.T. course, even though, to Lily’s surprise, he had managed to get an Exceeds Expectations on his O.W.L. 

Lily, Potter, and Sirius gathered and paid for the ingredients they needed (Lily picked out a few extras as well) and they all left the shop. They had only walked a couple of steps and were about to part ways when the shop across from the Apothecary exploded in a burst of flames. 

Shards of glass and chunks of timber and bricks flew everywhere. A huge piece of brick wall soared through the air straight towards Lily. She flung herself to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit. Her bags crashed into the ground and Lily landed heavily on top of them, cushioning her fall slightly. Luckily, she had spelled all the glass bottles with an unbreakable charm so nothing shattered. 

Marlene came rushing over to her. “Are you all right?” 

“I’m fine,” Lily answered, shakily, feeling a sharp sting of pain as she pushed herself off of the ground. Her clothes were torn and blackened with soot and she had cuts and scrapes all over from the flying bits of debris. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked around the street, trying to see what was happening through the thick, black smoke that was obscuring the air. 

Rubble covered the street and the window of the Apothecary had been broken by a piece of flying debris. Witches, wizards, and creatures of all sorts stood in doorways, looking out onto the street in confusion. Those who had been knocked to the ground or injured by the explosion were quickly being tended to and several adults were trying to calm frightened children. The luggage shop was destroyed — all that was left was a shell of the building it once had been. It was impossible to tell if anyone had been inside when it blew up, but Lily feared that someone had. 

“What could have caused that?” Marlene asked frantically. 

Lily shook her head. “Diagon Alley has loads of protection charms, doesn’t it? Shops shouldn’t just blow up like that.” 

The nervous chatter that had broken out among the crowd turned into screams of terror as a sparkling green skull began to take form over the remains of the shop. It shone clearly though the smoke. The mouth of the skull opened wide and a snake slithered out slowly, twisting itself about, mockingly. Fear filled the streets, so tangible, you could cut it with a knife.

The street turned into pandemonium. Parents grabbed their crying children and Apparated away while others raced towards the Leaky Cauldron. Panicked voices and anxious shouts echoed through the smoke shrouded air. Lily and Marlene were jostled from all sides as people ran past frantically. Someone grabbed Lily by the shoulders, pulling her back and out of the way. Lily fought them wildly, trying to get to her wand, not knowing who it was or what they wanted with her. 

“Calm down, it’s just me,” a voice said in her ear. Lily relaxed in James’ strong grip. Remus had a hold of Marlene, and Sirius and Peter were standing in a small alcove waiting for them. Sirius’ face was so pale it was almost colourless. He was gripping his wand tightly and the expression on his face was so fierce that Lily would have been scared of him if she weren’t so terrified already. 

“—some nerve,” Sirius was muttering, “to attack Diagon Alley like this, in broad daylight.” 

“What? You know who did this?” asked Lily. 

“There’s no question. They used _his_ mark.” 

“His mark? You mean—” 

“Voldemort, yeah. Only… it’s never been in the sky before.”

Voldemort, the Dark Lord, terrified people so much that many feared even to speak his name, instead referring to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or more commonly, You-Know-Who. 

Ever since Lily had started at Hogwarts, he had been gaining power and supporters for his cause — to rid the world of anyone who wasn’t a pure blood wizard or witch — Muggles included. He was being mentioned more and more frequently in the Daily Prophet as of late, but Lily hadn’t really taken him seriously — according to Marlene there was always someone around spouting pureblood nonsense, calling Muggleborns “Mudbloods” and other derogatory names. Nothing much ever came of it, so why should Voldemort be any different? 

However, weeks had turned into months, and then years, and still the Aurors had not managed to stop him. The attacks had become more horrifying as he began to use Muggles as examples, torturing and killing them mercilessly. Their bodies would be left in clear view; a skull with a serpent for a tongue always etched in green somewhere upon or near it. His name, his mark, his supporters — all became symbols of death. Everyone was afraid; terrified that he would move on from Muggles and turn to those who were magical. And then it had suddenly stopped. 

This past year there hadn’t been any mention of Voldemort at all. Lily had assumed the Aurors had finally gotten hold of him and although she had questioned the lack of an announcement in the papers, she had assumed the Ministry didn’t want to draw attention to it, and so had put it behind her. The wizarding world had become calm again and everyone had felt safe. Now though, everything was becoming clear. He hadn’t been heard from because he had been quietly gathering more supporters — enough that he had now formed a small army — not because he had finally been arrested. 

Lily turned her head and met James’ bright hazel eyes; she knew the terror she saw in his was mirrored in her own. His face was streaked with dirt and blood from a cut was trickling down his right cheek. 

Lily turned away and looked out onto the main street where the Dark Mark was still glittering menacingly in the sky. James’ arms were wrapped around her tightly, one of his hands gently brushing against her side, soothingly. Lily was stunned to realize that she felt safe, protected, as though nothing could harm her as long as she stayed like this. She jolted away from him when she became conscious that she had leaned back against him, sternly reminding herself who he was. For a moment she had forgotten. By then, most of the shopping crowd had disappeared and several scarlet-robed Aurors had appeared at the scene. Lily breathed a sigh of relief and heard Marlene echo it. 

One of the Aurors saw them as they walked back out onto the street. He eyed them from a distance, said something to his partner and then limped over, sizing them up as he approached. Lily watched him as he neared. His brown eyes missed nothing as he glanced over the street and his grey-brown hair waved in the slight breeze. His robes parted with each step and Lily saw that he had a wooden leg. 

“You a Potter?” he asked James briskly. 

“Er, yes,” James answered him. 

The Auror nodded at him. “Alastor Moody, I know your father and your mother’s fixed me up more than once.” He grinned and pointed to the scars that marred his face. 

“Right, he’s mentioned you a few times,” said James. “Says you’ve put more in Azkaban than anyone else.” 

Moody let out a harsh laugh. “There’s going to be even more, I guarantee it. Now,” he spoke to all of them this time. “You lot were here when the shop blew?” When they all nodded, he continued, “What can you tell me? Notice anything out of the ordinary?” 

“I didn’t,” Lily replied. “Shouldn’t the wards and protection spells keep anything from happening? I thought only Ministry personnel knew how to dismantle them.” 

Moody turned his gaze directly on her. “You’re a sharp one. Mind you keep that last thought to yourself. Don’t want it getting heard by the wrong ears.” 

“You mean there’s someone in the Ministry helping Voldemort?” Marlene interjected. 

Moody’s harsh laughter rang out again. “Don’t be so surprised. The Ministry isn’t what it used to be. Never was what it should be, to tell you the truth. Corrupt, that’s what it is.” He motioned for them to wait while he ambled over to his partner. They talked for a few minutes, with Moody gesturing occasionally over to where they stood. Moody walked back over to them. 

“We’ll have more questions for you later. Can you all be in one place for the rest of today and tomorrow? Somewhere safe, just in case. It’ll save us the trouble of rounding you all up, again. And you might recall seeing something if you get a chance to think it over.” 

They looked around at each other and shrugged. “I’d rather not go home like this,” Lily said. “My parents are Muggles, you see, and they tend to ask questions. Plus my sister will be there…” 

Marlene snorted; she had met Petunia before and knew exactly what Lily meant. The boys looked at her questioningly and Lily just shook her head, not wanting to explain. 

James spoke up. “We can go to my house. My parents won’t mind. Sirius is already staying there and Remus and Peter were planning to come over anyway. Two lovely additions won’t make a difference,” he added with a cheeky grin. “You can use the Floo or my owl to get in touch with your parents.” 

Moody nodded and said gruffly, “Good, I know the address. Expect us.” He nodded again and walked away. 

“Well,” James muttered. “That was interesting. Shall we go? You can go side-along with Sirius and me since you’ve never been there,” he said to Lily and Marlene. 

Remus and Peter Disapparated with a _pop_ , Peter seeming to have passed his test this time around. Marlene grabbed hold of Sirius’ arm and they disappeared too, leaving Lily and James alone. 

“Let’s go.” James took Lily’s hand and pulled her close. He looked at her; an odd expression on his face as his free hand came up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. His fingers glanced over a small cut near her lips and Lily felt her breath catch. 

“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt worse,” he said softly and before Lily could reply, he wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and the familiar squeezing of Apparation took hold. 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Lily sat at James’ desk in his room, composing a letter for her parents. Down the hall she could hear Sirius, Remus, and Peter continuing their game of shooting soap bubbles at each other in an effort to get clean, making more of a mess than anything else, Lily thought. Marlene had gone home quickly to talk to her mum and to get a change of clothes, promising to bring something back for Lily too.

Finished writing, Lily read over the letter once more and then stood to tie it to Comet’s leg, smiling to herself over the owl’s name. James had said he had named it after his first broom.

Lily sat down on his bed, which was covered in a red and gold bedspread, and leaned back against the headboard. She looked around the room, waiting for James to finish showering so that she could take her turn.

The room was huge, at least twice the size of Lily’s bedroom, and surprisingly neat. The only disarray was books and parchment piled on the desk, presumably from last minute homework. There were Quidditch posters on the walls and a framed photo on the nightstand featured the four boys standing in the Great Hall at Hogwarts covered in colour-changing paint. Lily laughed quietly when she saw it, remembering when they had tried to charm the magical ceiling to mimic the weather physically instead of just visually. Needless to say, the charm had backfired, although how they had managed to get covered in paint, Lily had no idea.

She grabbed one of the many Quidditch books that James had piled on the nightstand and thumbed through it. She didn’t have much interest in the sport, although anyone living in the wizarding world was practically required to have an understanding of it. She had just started reading about the Holyhead Harpies when the bathroom door opened and James came striding out, clad in a robe and towelling his hair dry.

“I thought you didn’t like Quidditch?” he asked, seeing the book.

“I was bored.”

James rummaged around in his chest of drawers. “Here, you can wear this until Marlene gets back,” he said, glancing at Lily’s singed and ripped clothing, handing her a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a long sleeved t-shirt with ‘Quidditch Captain’ written across the back.

“Your Quidditch practice gear?”

“It’s from two years ago, so it should fit you well enough.”

“Two years ago? And you still have it?”

“Nostalgia,” James admitted with a shrug and a sheepish grin. “Youngest captain Gryffindor’s had in twenty years.”

Lily took the offered clothes with a nod and went into the bathroom. “Use the yellow towel,” James told her before she shut the door and locked it behind her.

Lily set the clothes on the marble sink counter. The bathroom was almost as large as the other room. The house looked much smaller from the outside, but then immediately she realized that it was a wizarding house, there must be expanding charms on all the rooms. That would explain it.

It wasn’t nearly as nice as the Prefect’s bathroom at Hogwarts, but Lily hadn’t expected it to be as nice as it was. The bathtub, which took up an entire wall, was a reasonable size and had several taps located around the rim. The shower was next to the tub, beside that was the sink, and across from the sink was the toilet. There was a plush red and gold rug covering most of the floor and several towels were hanging on the wall.

She was about to undress when she caught sight of her hair in the mirror. She grimace and opened the bathroom door, sticking her head out. Spying James she called to him, “Do you have a comb I can use?”

He stood up and grabbed a comb off the top of his chest of drawers and handed it to her.

“Thanks,” Lily said, shutting the door in his face and locking it once more. She went back in front of the mirror and tackled the monstrosity that was her hair.

Once her hair was untangled, she undressed then healed the small cuts that covered her face and body with a quick spell. Satisfied that rest of her injuries could be fixed with some bruise salve, she opened the shower door. She didn’t see anywhere to turn the water on as she stepped into the stall, but as soon as she closed the door, water came streaming down. Lily let out a small shriek of surprise.

There was a knock on the door. “You all right?” James asked.

Lily blushed even though she knew he couldn’t see her. It was weird talking to him while she wasn’t wearing anything. “I’m fine, the shower startled me, is all,” she called back.

“Let me know if you need help with anything.”

“I think I know how to take a shower by now.”

“But you might need your back scrubbed.”

“In your dreams, Potter,” she called, smiling wryly and very glad that he couldn’t see her.

“Ah, and what dreams they’ve been …”

“Potter!”

“Yes, Evans, my dear?”

“Bugger off!” she called, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice. She could hear him laughing over the running water.

Shampoo, conditioner, and soap were on a self in front of her and as Lily lathered her arms the spicy scent wafted around her. She inhaled deeply before she realized what she was doing. _“…snog him and get it over with.”_ Marlene’s words rang in her ears. She shook her head, forcing herself to ignore the thoughts Marlene’s words brought to mind. She quickly set about finishing her shower.

She dried off (using the yellow towel) and pulled on the clothes he had given her. The tracksuit bottoms were a bit loose and the sleeves of the t-shirt were too long but the clothes were warm, soft, and extremely comfortable. She towel-dried her hair and combed it out again. Gathering her ruined clothes in her arms, she hung her towel on a hook and exited the bathroom.

James had dressed and was sitting at his desk reading from a textbook. He closed the book and stood up when he saw Lily.

Surprising Lily by not commenting on the clothes she now wore, he said, “I’m starving; let’s get something to eat. Sirius, Remus and Peter are in the kitchen already. Just throw your clothes on the bed. We can take care of them later.”

Lily did as he said and followed him downstairs.

0o0o0o0o0

An hour later Lily sat comfortably on a sofa sipping a mug of warm butterbeer. Sirius had put together sandwiches for everyone, and to Lily’s surprise they were tastier some of the ones the house elves made at Hogwarts.

Marlene had returned in time to join them, bringing clothes for Lily, though the red-haired witch didn’t bother to change out of the clothes James had given her. This was a fact she refused to think about, as they sat around the comfortable room chatting about everything and nothing.

Time passed and before Lily knew it the sky outside had grown dark and clock on the wall was chiming a quarter to eight. James stood and walked across the room to turn on the wireless. “The evening news should be on soon,” he said. “I bet they’ll be talking about the explosion in Diagon Alley.”

Remus, Peter, and Sirius sprawled out on the floor in front of the wireless and James sat down in front of the couch Lily and Marlene were sitting on. Lily studied the cozy room while they waited in silence for the news to start. There were several portraits on the wall above the fireplace. Most were of older witches and wizards in dress robes, but one featured a small child who was curled up on a sofa, a stuffed owl wedged under one arm. His mouth was open and his eyes were closed. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but every once in his eyes would open and he would stick out his tongue and make a face, breaking the illusion.

“Is that you?” she asked James, pointing to the portrait.

“Yeah.”

“You were so cute when you were younger,” she said deviously. “What happened?”

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. “She has you there, Prongs.”

“Why do you call him that?” Marlene piped up.

“Well, we’re the Marauders; we had to have nicknames.”

“Yeah, but what made you decide on them? I mean, you call James Prongs, Remus Moony, you’re Padfoot, and Peter, of all things, is Wormtail. It makes no sense.”

“Erm…” Sirius looked over at the other boys. “They just sort of fit, I suppose.”

Marlene pursed her lips, not quite satisfied with the answer he had given her.

“The news is starting,” Remus stated quietly. The group grew silent once more as they listened to Jacob Barnaby’s report.

“ _…luggage shop in Diagon Alley today. The appearance of You-Know-Who’s dark mark has lead Aurors to believe that this is the work of his Death Eaters, but no evidence has been found leading to the cause of the explosion. Investigations will continue and though Diagon Alley will remain open, everyone is strongly advised to take precautions when leaving their homes and, it is suggested that for the next several days, only go out of doors when necessary. In other news, Gilderoy Lockhart’s latest book is now—”_

The broadcaster’s voice cut off abruptly as Remus reached over and turned the Wireless off. “They didn’t say anything — at least nothing helpful that we couldn’t have figured out for ourselves.”

“It almost sounded as though he wasn’t sure of everything himself. Did you hear how hesitant he was to report what happened? It was almost as though he neglected to say something,” Lily said.

“You right,” Sirius agreed. “I bet you the Aurors discovered something and the Ministry didn’t want everyone to know about it. We can find out though. When Moody comes by to talk to us tomorrow, he can tell us.”

“Do you really think he’ll tell us anything?” Peter asked.

“We were there,” Sirius said angrily. “There’s no reason for him to keep anything from us. We have as much right to know what going on as the next person.”

“We’re just kids in his eyes, Sirius,” Lily argued. “Even though we’re all of age, we’re still in school.”

James, who had been uncommonly quiet, spoke up with an unfamiliar gleam in his eyes. “If Moody won’t tell us, we’ll just have to ask someone else then.”

“Like who?”

“Dumbledore.”

“What makes you think Dumbledore will tell us anything?”

“Because,” his mouth curling into a half-smile, “as Head Boy and Girl, it’s our job to help protect the students when they’re outside the walls of Hogwarts. We can’t do that unless we know what we’re supposed to be protecting them from.”

Lily’s mouth dropped open. James Potter was Head Boy? Impossible.

“You’re Head Boy?” Marlene asked him incredulously. “Why haven’t you mentioned it until now?”

James shrugged. “Didn’t seem necessary.” Marlene looked over at Lily, who kept her face carefully blank. It was a shock to find out that he was Head Boy. He was the last person she would have expected Dumbledore to choose, but she supposed he must have had his reasons — James _had_ been a bit more behaved last year. She was so confused. A year ago she would have been furious and it would be so easy to hold on to all the anger she had felt towards James in the past, but somehow now… after all that had happened today, she just couldn’t. She had seen a side of James that was very different from what she had known at school, and she had to admit, however grudgingly, that she sort of appreciated his calm and protectiveness in the aftermath of the explosion.

“Congratulations, I suppose.”

Everyone in the room stared at her.

“What?” she said defensively. “It’s not as though I can do anything about the fact that he’s Head Boy,” she told them. “I may as well accept it.” She stood up in a huff and left the room, calling behind her, “I’m going to bed.”

Marlene came in as Lily was getting under the sheets of the bed in the guest room she and Marlene had been given to share. Marlene changed into pyjamas and crawled in next to her. She turned on her side and propped her head up on one elbow to talk to Lily. The pose was familiar and Lily did the same. They often talked like this in their dorm room at Hogwarts.

“I can’t believe you’re being so calm about him being Head Boy,” Marlene said quietly. “You’re acting —I don’t know — different. What’s wrong?”

Lily felt her eyes prickle. This was Marlene, she told herself, Marlene who knows you so well. “My sister’s married.”

“Yes, I know.”

“She hates me.”

“Lily—”

“No, she does. I don’t know why she hates that I’m witch. I’ve never really used my magic against her, so I don’t know what I can do to change her mind. Ever since I got my Hogwarts letter…” Lily trailed off, lost in thought. She sighed deeply and shook her head. “It’s something she’s chosen and I can’t do anything to about it as much as I might want to.” She turned onto her back and stared at the ceiling. “And now, with everything that’s happened today — I mean, he’s not so bad is he?”

“Lily, what—”

“Potter, he’s not so bad. He was acting different last year, did you notice? He stopped messing with his hair so much and he didn’t hex or prank as many people. He actually behaved fairly decently for the most part. And,” she gave a short laugh, “it’s sort of fun arguing with him all the time. He’s not so bad, really.”

“First Hogsmeade weekend.” Lily heard the teasing note in Marlene’s voice and knew she understood.

“I know…” Lily turned out the lights with a flick of her wand and smiled into her pillow. “A very small part of me might actually be looking forward to it,” she whispered into the dark.

0o0o0o0o0

There was a thump as Marlene fell off the bed and onto the floor.

“Sirius!”

The bed bounced.

Lily squinted in the morning light. James, Remus, and Peter were snickering from the doorway as Sirius jumped on the bed. Lily threw her pillow at him. “Go away, Sirius. I was sleeping.”

Sirius laughed at her and threw the pillow back at her, smacking her in the face.

Then, before she knew it, Lily was wide awake and participating in the most outrageous pillow fight she had ever witnessed. From the bedroom where she and Marlene had slept, to Sirius’ room, and into James’, feathers were flying and it was everyone for themselves. They all collapsed onto James bed and lay there, panting. Then James grabbed a fistful of feathers and shoved them down the back of Lily’s t-shirt, starting the fight up again.

A few minutes later, Lily collapsed in the hallway, clutching her empty pillowcase to her chest and groaned, “Truce.”

The others nodded in agreement. They stood up and used their wands to clean up the mess they had made of the second floor. They changed into clean clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast.

They all sat at the round table eating fluffy pancakes that Sirius and James had made (Lily still amazed that they could cook) and drinking crisp pumpkin juice.

They were almost finished eating when an elderly witch, with hazel eyes, rosy cheeks and silver-grey hair arranged in an elegant knot at the top of her head, entered the room. Behind her was a man of around the same age, with brown eyes and thick, dishevelled salt and pepper hair. It was obvious that they were James’ parents. They were much, much older than Lily had expected, though this did explain why James was an only child and probably why he was so spoilt.

“Mum! Dad!” James exclaimed standing up to greet them.

His mother swept James up in a hug. “Darling, we came home as soon as we heard. I’m glad you’re all right.”

“It was smart to bring your friends here, too,” his father said, hugging him as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Potter greeted Sirius as if he was their own and then said hello to Remus, Peter, and Marlene. When James introduced her to his parents his mother’s face lit up. She looked at James with wide eyes. “This is _the_ Lily?” she asked him.

Lily looked at James in shock when he blushed faintly.

“Forgive me, dear,” Mrs. Potter told her. “I’ve just heard so much about you. Ever since third year whenever James came home from Hogwarts, he’s never failed to mention you. It’s a wonder we haven’t met you sooner, since you’re such good friends. And he told me that you’d be sure to be made Head Girl this year. Was he right?”

Lily wasn’t sure quite how to react to this information. James’ mother thought they were friends? She settled for just answer the question. “Er, yes, I was.”

“Oh, wonderful! I’m so happy that James will be working with someone he likes so well. It would have been terrible if someone else had gotten it. Why he was saying that if it wasn’t you, then he didn’t want to be Head Boy, either.”

Lily eyed James with raised eyebrows and blushed. It didn’t escape his mother’s notice. “Oh, dear, I fear I’ve embarrassed you. Well, your father and I will just go on upstairs and freshen up.” Her voice became serious and was touched with worry. “When we get back down you’ll tell us about all that went on yesterday. Yes,” she added, eyeing James and Sirius.

“Yes, ma’am,” they replied.

After his parents left the room, Lily turned to James, accusingly. “What _exactly_ have you told your parents about me?”

He sat back down at the table and refused to answer, shoving the rest of his pancake in his mouth as the others laughed at him cheerfully.

0o0o0o0o0

_Boom!_

“I told you not to play that card.”

“Shut it, Remus. I’ll beat her this time.”

“You said that last time, Sirius. And the time before that, and the time before that… In fact,” Remus grinned, “you’ve been saying it since Marlene beat you the first time — two hours ago.”

Lily leaned back against the headboard of James’ bed and laughed along with the others. Marlene and Sirius had been playing Exploding Snap ever since the Aurors had left earlier that afternoon. They had stopped by shortly after the group had eaten lunch. They hadn’t had any other questions besides the ones they had already asked the day before. Sirius had asked Moody and his partner what had caused the shop to blow up, but they had refused to answer him. Lily had felt they were hiding something, but she kept her thoughts to herself as James held Sirius back when he had continued to badger the Aurors about it. She was beginning to agree with James’ idea about asking Dumbledore about it when they returned to school. She and James _were_ going to be Head Girl and Boy this year, after all. Dumbledore would _have_ to tell them something.

There was another round of cheering from Peter, Remus, and Marlene, along with a loud groan from Sirius. Lily looked over at James, who lay on his stomach next to her using his arms as a pillow, wondering how he could be sleeping with all the noise. Lily knew for a fact he was sleeping since he was snoring softly. She doubted even he would fake that.

She glanced at her watch, seeing that it was already four in the afternoon. She ought to be getting home soon, but she was having too much fun. It probably helped that James was asleep.

Sirius threw his cards down. “I give up. You’re obviously cheating. There’s no way you’d be able to beat me otherwise.”

“If you had listened to Remus you might’ve done better,” Lily told him.

Sirius stood up and flopped onto the bed. James groaned and pushed Sirius off his feet, where he had landed.

“Sorry, Prongs. I thought you were asleep.” Sirius ruffled James’ hair.

“Keyword, _was_.”

Lily snorted. “That was a terrible comeback, Potter.”

“So?”

Sirius ruffled James’ hair again.

“If you do that again, I’ll hex you,” James said to him menacingly.

“You’re so immature, Potter,” Lily stated.

“Like you’re any better.”

“At least I don’t go around hexing everyone that annoys me.”

“It doesn’t hurt them any. If it did, Sirius would be more deformed than he already is.”

“What about Peter?” Sirius wanted to know.

“Peter’s already deformed. My hexing him has nothing to do with it.” Sirius laughed and James added hastily, “No offence, Peter.”

“None taken,” Peter replied. “At least I don’t have horns.”

“Antlers,” James said in a suffering tone. “They’re antlers, Peter.”

“Oh, right… sorry.”

Marlene shot a questioning look at Lily. “This has something to do with the nicknames, doesn’t it?”

“We, er, don’t have to, uh, answer that do we?” James stuttered.

Marlene sighed, “No, I suppose not. But I'm going to get to the bottom of this by the end of the year!” she vowed.

Sirius snorted. “You can try.”

Marlene raised her eyebrows at him and continued, “I think there’s something more to it than a stupid joke. It must be illegal — otherwise you’d have told the whole school by now.” She glanced around at the boys and then pointed an accusing finger at Remus. “And I bet it has something to do with Remus’ pet rabbit.”

“My pet _rabbit_?” Remus spluttered.

“Yes,” Marlene answered decisively. “Your ‘furry little problem’. I’ve heard James talk to you about it more than once. We’re not allowed to have rabbits as pets at Hogwarts. So do you lie about a relative being sick so you can go home to your ill behaved rabbit and have your friends go along with you?”

James winked at Sirius. “Yeah, that’s exactly right,” he told Marlene.

“What?” Peter looked confused. “No, it isn — ow!” He rubbed the back of his head where Sirius had hit him. “What was that for?”

“For being thick.”

“Oh. Ohh…” Peter caught on and looked at Marlene. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“As if I’m going to believe you now, Peter, when you were about to tell me I was wrong,” Marlene said exasperatedly. “Now come on,” she whined, “tell me what’s really up with the nicknames. It has to have _something_ to do with this furry problem.”

Lily glanced sideways at Remus. She couldn’t believe Marlene hadn’t realized what Remus’ _real_ furry problem was by now. Then again, Marlene often missed things that were right in front of her nose. Lily, on the other hand, had figured it out in fifth year when she and Remus had both become Prefects. She had noticed he would avoid patrolling around the time of the full moon at all costs. In the previous years, she had noticed that he would make monthly trips home to visit a sick relative and that when he returned it had looked as though he had been the sick one. After a trip to the library and a glance in her D.A.D.A. textbook, she had put two and two together. It had never occurred to her to be bothered once she had discovered the truth, and it still didn’t, but she wished he would have trusted her with the reason himself. It was rather hard sometimes to pretend she didn’t know that he was a werewolf.

“Please? Please, tell me,” Marlene was all but begging the boys, who were steadfastly refusing to answer.

Lily waved a hand at Marlene. “They might actually be just some silly names they came up with,” Lily told her. “I mean — they call themselves the Marauders. They can’t very well use their own names. It wouldn’t have the same effect as Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs do.”

Marlene looked at her thoughtfully. “I suppose you have a point. But I still think there’s something more to it.”

Lily shrugged. “Well, they can’t keep it from us forever.” She turned to look at all the boys. “Let’s make a deal — if Marlene and I haven’t guessed by the end of the year what the story behind the nicknames is you’ll tell us yourselves.”

“No!” Sirius exclaimed.

“Actually,” James spoke up, “I think it’s a great idea.”

“Really?” Sirius sounded sceptical.

“Sure,” James replied with a shrug. He grinned mischievously. “They’ll never guess and by the end of the year we’ll have been able to come up with a suitable answer.”

Lily smiled. “Ah, but you’re forgetting one thing, Potter.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I’m excellent at brewing potions.”

“Your point?”

It was Lily turn to give a mischievous grin. “You might find that at the end of the year my hand will accidentally tip some Veritaserum into your tea.”

James’ face paled and he turned to Remus, who was laughing at him silently. “That’s not legal, is it? Also, remind me to be mindful of what I drink when I’m around her this year, will you?


	5. Chapter 5

The barrier flew past as Lily stepped onto platform nine and three-quarters Friday morning. She took a deep breath, savouring the scene around her. Parents and students hurried to and from the scarlet train as they bid farewell to each other. Lily had said goodbye to her parents before Apparating to King’s Cross. Being of age was definitely an advantage in the wizarding world. She looked through the crowd for Marlene and, failing to see her, continued on to the Heads’ compartment at the front of the train, hovering her trunk in front of her.

After stowing her trunk on the overhead rack, she took her book bag off her shoulder and set it on the seat. She rummaged in the front pocket for her Head Girl badge and pinned it to her robes. Smoothing her hair, she stepped into the hallway in search of Marlene.

Other students greeting her and congratulating her on becoming Head Girl kept interrupting Lily’s search and she was relieved when she finally found Marlene chatting with some of their friends in a compartment halfway down the train.

“Hullo, Lily!” Elizabeth Quirk, a Ravenclaw in her year greeted her. “Oh — you _did_ get Head Girl. Marlene refused to tell us whether you had or not. We had our suspicions, of course, since Janice —” she was referring to Janice Thompson, a seventh year Gryffindor who played Beater on the Quidditch team, “—was made a Prefect, but we didn’t know for sure.”

Lily smiled. Lizzie didn’t believe anything until she saw it for herself.

“Are those new robes?” Ellen Bethan asked. “They’re very nice.”

“Thanks,” Lily told her as she sat down. Ellen was in Hufflepuff and a Prefect in Lily’s year. She was the first friend Lily had made when she had come to Hogwarts and, like Lily, she came from a Muggle family. Ellen had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and was obsessed with fashion. She planned to open her own clothing shop with her Hufflepuff year mates, Ruby Dobbs and Olivia Bradshaw, when she left Hogwarts.

Linda Colmes —another seventh year Gryffindor — pulled at Lily’s hair. “You finally let your hair grow out, I see,” she stated happily. “Janice will be thrilled. Are you going to let her style it for you?”

Lily rolled her eyes. “As if I would have a choice. She’s fussed with my hair since first year — even though there wasn’t much of it.”

The others all laughed. Janice was always cutting and styling everyone’s hair. Lily suspected this was because she kept her own thick, curly black hair cut extremely short, claiming it got in the way when she played Quidditch. She had been pestering Lily to grow hers out for ages along with Marlene.

“I heard James Potter was made Head Boy. How’s that going to work?” Ellen asked Lily. “You two don’t exactly get along.”

Lily shrugged in response.

Linda gaped at her. “But you can’t stand him,” she said, as Marlene stifled giggles behind her hand. “I was expecting a huge rant — what?” she looked at Marlene in confusion. “There’s something you aren’t telling us.”

Marlene couldn’t take it anymore and burst out laughing. “First Hogsmeade weekend!”

Lily covered her face in her hands. “No, no, no. Marlene, we promised not to speak of it.”

“No,” Marlene corrected, “you made him and his friends promise. I wasn’t included in that.”

“Clearly that was an oversight on my part,” Lily groaned.

The other girls rounded on Lily. “What’s this about the first Hogsmeade weekend?” Lizzie demanded.

“Nothing.” Lily glared at Marlene. “There’s nothing about the first Hogsmeade weekend.”

Marlene ignored her. “They’re going to find out sooner or later.” She took a breath, pausing dramatically and shooting Lily a triumphant look. “Lily Evans has agreed to go to Hogsmeade with James Potter. On. A. Date.”

There were several loud gasps and squeals. Lily crossed her arms and frowned at them. Lizzie was rolling on her seat laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her cheeks. “It’s not a big deal,” she protested.

“It _is_ a big deal,” Linda argued.

“He’s been asking you out constantly since third year,” Ellen put in. “You’ve _always_ refused.”

“Oh, Merlin.” Lizzie sat up in her seat, wiping her eyes. "I guess his good looks finally got to you.”

“What’s this I hear about good looks?” Sirius stuck his head into the compartment. “You wouldn’t happen to be talking about me, would you?”

Lizzie rolled her eyes at him. “Who else could we possibly be referring to?” she asked him sarcastically.

The train whistle blew at that moment, signalling that the train would be leaving in ten minutes, and forestalling Sirius’ reply. Lily stood. “I better go; there’s a meeting in a few minutes. I’ll see you all later.”

“In that case,” Sirius said, “you won’t mind if I take your place.” He sat down in Lily’s vacated seat and propped his feet up on the opposite one, resting his arms behind his head. “So, ladies… know anyone who will come up to the Astronomy tower with me tonight?”

“Sirius, you’re incorrigible.” Marlene’s voice drifted down the hall as Lily made her way back to the Head’s compartment, pausing to say “Hello” to several classmates along the way.

She opened the door to the compartment and saw James sprawled out on one of the seats making notes in a book with a quill. He smiled when Lily entered.

“Hey, Evans. I wondered when you’d get back.” He sat up and tucked his book and quill back into his bag and pulled out a few pieces of parchment, which he handed to her.

“What’s this?” she asked him as she walked across the hall to the empty Prefects’ compartment.

“Dumbledore owled me the common room passwords and the one for his office. I also made some notes on stuff I think should be covered at the meeting. I wasn’t sure how everything works, not having been a Prefect and all.” He sat on the seat that faced all of the other ones and Lily sat down beside him.

“Oh. Well, it’s pretty simple. We just go over the rules about taking house points and giving detentions. I can cover that part. Though you probably know all the rules, seeing as you’ve broken most of them,” she said, as the Prefects started trickling in. She glanced over the parchment he had given her and raised her eyebrows at him. “Be responsible? That’s a bit rich coming from you.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in return. Lily couldn’t help it — she burst out laughing.

“The world has ended,” Remus, who was looking a bit off colour, said coming to a stop in the doorway. “Lily Evans is laughing at something James Potter has done.”

“Move your arse,” Janice said loudly, pushing him into the compartment. Remus took a seat on one of the many benches across from Lily and James. Janice grabbed both of Lily’s hands in hers and said fervently, “I am so proud of you.”

“Whatever for?” Lily laughed.

“For growing out your hair, of course!” She sighed. “Now if only I had a reason to dress it up.”

“I know of one,” piped up Ruby Dobbs from the back row, her short curly red hair bouncing excitedly. “The first Hogsmeade weekend!”

James let out a burst of laughter before covering it up with an unconvincing cough. “News travels fast, doesn’t it, Evans? And just so we’re clear, this doesn’t count as me saying something. I’m simply commenting on a statement a fellow student made.” Lily shot daggers at him with her eyes.

Janice eyed him suspiciously. “What’s this about the first Hogsmeade weekend?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Lily said through gritted teeth. Janice grinned at her as though she already knew what Lily would say and sat down next to Remus.

Lily stood up and motioned for everyone to sit down once the train gave a final whistle and started moving. They had arranged themselves by year, with the new fifth year Prefects sitting proudly in front, their badges shining brightly against their black robes.

Lily let them chat while the train picked up speed and then, once they were well on their way to Hogwarts, she stood up and motioned them into silence. “Welcome back for another school year and congratulations for being made Prefects. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Lily Evans and I will be Head Girl this year.”

They all cheered. Lily was well-liked around Hogwarts. Few people didn’t know who she was, and those that didn’t, knew she was someone to be respected. It helped that the teachers always told students to go to her for help with classes, no matter which house they were in — not that the Slytherins would ever ask for help from a Gryffindor. Lily smiled at them and turned to James, gesturing for him to introduce himself.

“Hi,” he said, “this is the first time I’ve been to one of these shindigs, so it’s all very exciting.” He grinned at everyone and continued with a small bow. “I’m James Potter, Head Boy and Marauder extraordinaire. I promise I shall do my very best to keep the mischief to the minimum this year.” They all laughed at this, though no one truly believed him. The Marauders were famous for misbehaving, and they all knew that James was the leader.

Lily frowned at his antics, wishing he would at least pretend to take the rules seriously, before speaking again. “I’d like all of you to know who everyone else is, so we’ll start in the front and you can all introduce yourselves.”

Once everyone had said their names, year and which House they were in, Lily continued, “For those of you who are new, I’m going to go over the procedures for taking house points and assigning detentions. All of you are able to give and take house points, but only for reasonable things. No taking points from someone just because they’re in another house or because their socks don’t match. The same goes for rewarding points. You can’t give them to someone just because they’re your friend or for doing something silly, such as brushing their hair — even if it’s the first time they‘ve done it, like Potter here.” She looked at James as she said this and he scowled at her.

Lily continued, “This is all common sense and I trust you have it, since you were made Prefects in the first place. As far as detentions go — only the Head Boy and I can assign them. If you feel that a student deserves a detention you need to write a statement saying why and give it to one of us, so that we can take care of it.” She looked at James. “Do you have anything to add?”

He nodded. “I know that I’m one to talk, but just because you’re Prefects doesn’t mean that you’re any better than the other students. That means no picking or hexing anyone just because you can. Also, I’m sure you all remember what it was like being a first year. Make sure that you help them out if they need it. It doesn’t matter if it’s showing them where a classroom is, giving them a hand with their homework, or just talking to them. It’s your job to make sure Hogwarts feels like home for them. If you notice any of them having trouble adjusting, especially those that are Muggleborn, tell Evans or me so we can talk to them about what’s troubling them.”

“All right,” Lily took over again, “the teachers will be doing the patrols this week while we get settled, but starting on Monday we will be helping them. There will be a new patrol schedule each month. We have another meeting on Sunday night and you’ll get your first patrol schedule then, as well as the passwords to the Prefect Bathrooms. _Please_ , remember that there are separate bathrooms for the boys and girls for a reason. The passwords are _not_ to be shared. If this rule is violated, the bathrooms can be closed up and you won’t be able to use them. Oh, speaking of passwords, we have the ones for your common rooms.”

Lily handed a fifth year from each house one of the parchment pieces James had given her earlier. “You know that these are not to be shared with other houses and that they’ll be changing periodically. Make sure you tell the members of your house to check the bulletin boards regularly.”

Abigail Wreath, a sixth year Ravenclaw raised her hand and Lily nodded at her to speak. “Will there be a Head common room for meetings again this year?”

James looked at Lily questioningly; he didn’t know anything about it. “Yes, there will,” Lily answered her. “We’re meeting with Dumbledore after the feast and he’ll tell us where it’s located this year. They move it each year according to who the Head Boy and Girl are. My guess is that it will be near Gryffindor Tower. We’ll let you know where it is at the meeting on Sunday, which will be held in the antechamber off the Great Hall. Does anyone else have a question?”

When no one raised his or her hand, James spoke up, “Great. For the remainder of the trip you can just patrol the halls and make sure no one is doing anything they shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean you can’t talk with your friends, just make sure that you do your job, too. One of us will always be here in the Head Compartment if you need us for anything.”

Lily halted them when they made to leave. “Before you go, I have one more announcement to make,” she said, looking around the compartment at everyone. Her voice was quiet when she spoke once again. “I’m sure you have all heard about the recent attack in Diagon Alley.” They all nodded solemnly. “This year is going to be different from anything we’ve known before for reasons I know you are all aware of. Even though I’m sure Professor Dumbledore and the other teachers will be taking precautions, you need to ensure that the students in your house are being safe. No student should be out of their common room after curfew unless they’re a Prefect on patrol. Make sure that you report anything unusual you see to Professor Dumbledore, Potter, or me. And I mean anything, even if it’s just one of your friends acting a bit strange. The _Prophet_ just reported this morning that someone from the Ministry had been found to be under the Imperius Curse. While I don’t think Voldemort or his Death Eaters would target students, no one can know for certain. For now, curfew and Hogsmeade trips will be as they were last year, but it might change later on in the year depending on how the situation outside of school is. So remember, keep your eyes open.”

Lily looked around the room one last time, meeting everyone’s eye. “All right, see you all on Sunday. Oh,” she added, “make sure that everyone has changed into their robes by the time we reach the school.”

0o0o0o0o0

The train ride to Hogwarts was surprisingly bereft of confrontation. The only incident was when some of the older students told the first years they would have to wrestle a mountain troll to see which House they would be in. But, seeing as that rumour surfaced each year, it was an easy matter to resolve.

 

After the train stopped smoothly in the Hogsmeade station, Lily hopped off and, along with James and the seventh year Prefects, guided the students to the carriages that would take them up to Hogwarts. When the last few stragglers were finally off the train she and James boarded the carriage that had been waiting patiently for them.

Lily rested her arms on the open window and gazed out into the dark night, watching the lights of the castle loom closer as the gentle night breeze wafted over her face. She drew in a deep breath — this was her favourite time of the year. There was something so simplistically magical about it that it took her breath away each and every time.

James let out a loud sigh and Lily looked over at him. “What is it?”

He gave her a sheepish grin. “I love this part. There’s something so perfect and calming about it.” He leaned back and stretched. “It’s like — this is the one time every year that I can just relax and let everything just _be_. Merlin, I can’t believe this is our last year.”

“I know. So much has happened and yet — it’s as though nothing has changed.”

The rest of their journey up to Hogwarts was spent in silence. When they got to the front doors, James bounded from the carriage and held out a hand to help Lily down. After a brief pause, she took it. They walked up the castle stairs, through the entranceway, and into the Great Hall.

The noise was deafening. Even thought the students had had plenty of time to talk during the train ride, there was something about being back at Hogwarts after summer holiday. Lily and James walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down across from each other near where their friends were sitting.

They had sat with each other at the table before, but never during the Welcoming Feast. As Head Boy and Girl, Lily felt that they should show all the students and teachers that they could put their past differences behind them and get along for one evening. So far, it hadn’t been much of a trial.

Several minutes later the doors to the Great Hall opened again and Professor McGonagall strolled through with the new first years following meekly behind. Lily studied them, as she did every year, wondering which ones would be sorted into Gryffindor, while McGonagall placed a three-legged stool and the sorting hat in front of them.

The hall melted in to silence as everyone waited with bated breath for the hat to begin its song.

 

_“There comes a time in a wizard’s life_

_And a witch’s too,_

_When you must make a difficult choice_

_Which is never easy to do._

_Your peers will say this_

_Your parents say that,_

_But as to who is right_

_No one knows for a fact._

_The founders found out the hard way_

_When Slytherin left in rush,_

_Behind was a trail of bitter words_

_Which today some people still trust._

_‘Pure-bloods yes, but Muggleborns no’_

_Is what Slytherin had said,_

_The other founders, they disagreed_

_‘Please reconsider,’ they pled._

_But Slytherin refused to change_

_And that’s why he had gone,_

_So now I sit before you today_

_To sing you all this song._

_Though your houses are not the same_

_One thing is true for all,_

_You each have magic in your veins_

_And have since you were small._

_So, to Gryffindor go the bold_

_The courageous and the strong,_

_To Ravenclaw the ones with brains_

_The clever are hardly wrong._

_To Hufflepuff the loyal ones_

_The dependable and true,_

_To Slytherin those with cunning_

_Ambition will guide their way._

_So step on up when your name is called_

_And put me atop your head,_

_I’ll tell you the house where you belong_

_And where you’ll find your bed.”_

 

The hall filled with the sound of applause but it was interspersed with whispers. It was the first time Lily had ever heard the hat give advice. It must have done so in the past as the teachers didn’t seem surprised, but it still bothered Lily. She exchanged a worried look with James who leaned over and whispered, “I suppose we have our work cut out for us this year. Can you imagine us joining together with the Slytherins?” He gave a disgusted snort.

“Maybe not all of them,” Lily agreed.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, unrolling a scroll of parchment, and cleared her throat. “When I call your name,” she said, “you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Aubrey, Judith!”

A small brown-haired girl walked up and sat on the stool. The sorting hat fell over her face and the Great Hall was silent as the hat worked its magic. Nearly a minute later the hat’s brim opened again and shouted, “HUFFLEPUFF!”

The Hufflepuff table clapped and cheered as Judith scurried over and sat down next to her older brother, Bertram Aubrey, who ruffled her short hair.

McGonagall called the next name and, one by one, the first years were sorted into their houses. When the last name had been called, McGonagall picked up the stool and the hat and carried them out of the hall. At the staff table Professor Dumbledore stood up and motioned for silence.

“Welcome!” he greeted them. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I know you are all eager to fill your bellies, so I will wait until after the feast for the usual announcements and a few words of wisdom. Until then—” he clapped his hands and the tables filled with food. “—enjoy the feast! Thank you!”

Once Dumbledore had sat down again the students restarted their previous conversations. Sirius stretched and cracked his knuckles before reaching for the plate of chicken in sitting in front of Lily. “I glad that he always lets us eat first,” he said.

“Yeah, that way we’re too full and tired to listen to a word he says,” James added.

“I suppose that’s why you never remember what the rules are, right?” Lily asked.

“Nah.” Sirius waved a hand at her. “We have to know the rules. How else would we know how to break them?”

“Instinct.”

Remus snorted. “And we all know Sirius has _loads_ of that.”

The others laughed and the remainder of the feast passed by Lily in a blur of happy chatter with those around her. Every once in a while she heard someone mention the attack on Diagon Alley, but she tuned them out, wanting only to enjoy what she knew would be her last relaxing evening for a long while. When the last of the dessert had disappeared and the plates were restored to their previous shine, Dumbledore stood once again and the students quieted down.

“I have only a few start of term announcements to give to you. All first years, as well as some of our older students, should note that the Forbidden Forest is just that — forbidden. There are two new additions to the staff this year. First, Professor Julian Lowbard—” a man with indistinct looks stood up and waved to everyone “—will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Also, due to the untimely passing of our dear caretaker, Mr. Apollyon Pringle, I am pleased to introduce you to Mr. Argus Filch, who shall be replacing him.” A stooped man with stringy grey hair sitting at the end of the staff table stood up and glared at the students.

Sirius leaned across the table. “I know whom we’ll be pranking first,” he whispered to James.

“Then I’ll know who to give detention to,” Lily said, smiling at him innocently.

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Watch me.” Lily crossed her arms and returned her attention to Dumbledore.

“—magic in the corridors. There is also a list posted on his office door with all banned items. Anyone caught with any of these items will loose house point and receive a detention.” He paused and looked around solemnly at everyone. “Many of you are aware of the recent incident in Diagon Alley. Precautions have been taken, and while Hogsmeade visits are still allowed, we ask that you go in groups and be cautious. There are dark times ahead and we must join together if we are to overcome them. On that note, off to bed. First years, please follow your house Prefects to your dormitories. Goodnight!”

As the students rose and scuttled off to bed, Lily and James made their way to the antechamber off of the Great Hall to meet with Dumbledore.

He looked up at them when they arrived from where he was sitting and motioned for them to take the chairs across from him. He looked back and forth between them as they sat down and there were several moments of silence before he said, “Wonderful.”

Lily and James exchanged a glace. Sometimes Dumbledore could be very — well, in a word, odd.

“I am very pleased you both chose to accept the Head positions this year. Very pleased, indeed.” He sat forward and clasped his hands together, his blue eyes trained on them. “Now, I am sure you have many questions to ask me, but we shall save them for a better time. It would surely be too tiring to answer them all tonight. Shall we say, tomorrow at ten in the morning, instead?”

Lily and James nodded in agreement. As much as they wanted their questions about Diagon Alley answered they _were_ rather tired.

Dumbledore continued, “Miss Evans, I know you are aware of the Head common room as you have been a Prefect these past two years, though Mr. Potter is not. It has been a while since both the Heads came from the same house but, I must say, it very convenient.” He smiled. “We won’t have to argue about what the colours or the location of the common room will be.” James and Lily laughed softly. “You should have no trouble finding the room as it is located near the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, behind the portrait of Godric Gryffindor. There are several Head common rooms throughout the school and I thought that this one would suit you both.”

“It sounds perfect, Professor,” Lily told him.

Dumbledore nodded. “Thank you. The password is currently sugar quills, but if you would like to change it to something else be sure to let Professor McGonagall and I know what the new one is.”

“Of course, Professor,” James said. “Only, I think we’ll keep the password as it is for right now.”

“Very well. I will let you go on your way then. There are several… features, for lack of a better word, about the room. But, I will let you discover them for yourselves. I’m sure you will enjoy them thoroughly. Good night. I will talk to you both tomorrow.”

Lily and James bid him goodnight and left the room.

“This is brilliant!” James exclaimed as he and Lily bounded up the stairs. “Just think, a place to plan pranks without being interrupted by first years every ten seconds.”

Lily glared at him. “If you think I’ll let you use it as your own personal room, you're wrong. The only people allowed in are _you_ and _me_.”

“What about Prefect meetings? Aren’t they held there?”

Lily shot him a frustrated glance. “Yes, but the Prefects will wait outside until we let them in. That’s how it was the last two years and all the ones before it. Besides, I wouldn’t want all the Prefects knowing the password. They would come barging in at all hours to use the room for themselves.”

“Ah, you do have a point there,” James agreed.

“And no telling your friends,” Lily demanded.

James shrugged. “I won’t tell my friends as long as you promise to do the same.”

“Agreed.”

They reached floor where the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower was and James looked over where Godric Gryffindor’s portrait was hanging between two giant potted palms. “Shall we have a look then?”

Lily nodded and walked over to the portrait. He looked down at them from his gilded armchair, his famous sword balance across his lap. “He looks rather aristocratic, doesn’t he?”

“Just a bit. Well —” James turned and gave Lily a half smile and a salute. “— here’s to being Head Boy and Girl. _Sugar quills._ ”

The Godric Gryffindor nodded sternly at them and swung open to reveal a short corridor. At the end was a heavy oak door with ‘Head Boy and Girl Common Room’ written on it in thick gold print. James opened the door and motioned for Lily to go through first. She passed the threshold and stopped, staring around in wonder.

It was the most luxurious room she had ever been in, putting the common rooms from the past two years to shame. The room was circular like their dormitories, so Lily concluded it must be in one of the castle’s many towers. Opposite the door was a huge bay window that overlooked the Quidditch pitch. A thick, plush carpet in Gryffindor colours covered the stone floor and there were two enormous armchairs and a sofa in front of a roaring fireplace. There was also a long table with several chairs and a small bookshelf, which was currently empty.

Two desks sat along one wall, separated by a bulletin board, which was divided into four sections — one for each house. James called to her from where he was standing in another doorway.

“Come take a look at this. It’s like a smaller version of the Prefect bathroom.”

“How do you know what the Prefect bathroom looks like?” she asked as she walked over to him.

He gave her a look. “Remus.”

“Oh, right. Forget I asked.” Lily looked past him. It was true — the bathroom _was_ a smaller version of the Prefect one. There was a huge tub and a shower stall on the wall facing them and next to that was a double sink. There were hooks along the wall behind the door with two bathrobes in Gryffindor colours hanging on them. Next to the bathrobes was a shelf with several fluffy towels on it and a hamper underneath.

James went to the wardrobe next to the sink and opened it. There was a full-length mirror on the inside door and several hangers inside.

“We can keep some of our robes in here,” he said, grinning. He left the bathroom and flopped down onto the sofa. “This is brilliant. It’ll be worth following the rules just for this.”

“Yeah, it’ll be nice to have somewhere quiet to go.” Lily pushed his feet out of the way and sat down next to him. “We have a lot of responsibilities this year, not to mention our N.E.W.Ts.” She sighed and rested her head on the armrest.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s just…. This is our last year at Hogwarts.”

“Mm-hm.”

“You’re Head Boy.”

“Mm-hm.”

“I’m Head Girl.”

“Mm-hm.”

“It didn’t feel _real_ until now. Everything is going to be different from this point forward.”

James looked over at her and their eyes met. He studied her for a moment before replying, “Is that so bad?”

“No.” Lily gave him a half smile. “No, astonishingly enough, it doesn’t seem to be.”


	6. Chapter 6

Lily hurried down the hall to Dumbledore’s office, late for the meeting and cursing Potter's name under her breath. 

She thought that being Head Girl would have counted for _something,_ but apparently, it didn’t. She and Marlene had got up early this morning (they never had been able to sleep in late the first few days back at school) and after breakfast they had gone back upstairs to look over their timetables and unpack their trunks. Lily had set some clothes aside so that she could take them to the Head’s common room before the meeting with Dumbledore. Then, when she had opened the door to the Head’s common room a bucket of something green and slimy had poured down all over her.

For a moment she had just stood there in complete and utter shock. Then, shock had turned to puzzlement and then puzzlement turned to rage. Potter was going to pay for this.

She climbed the spiral staircase to Dumbledore’s office and knocked on the door. Even though he was expecting her, it seemed rude to just walk in. Dumbledore’s voice bid her enter and Lily opened the door. Dumbledore was at his desk and James was sitting in one of two chairs across from him.

“Miss Evans, I am glad you could make it.”

“Sorry, Professor,” Lily said as she sat down. “I had a slight mishap.”

“I trust you are all right?”

“Right as rain,” Lily replied eyeing James, who had the nerve to sit there as innocent as a flobberworm.

Dumbledore nodded, folding his hands on his desk. “Alastor Moody informed me that you were both present when the luggage shop in Diagon Alley exploded.”

Lily and James exchanged a glace.

“I do not believe you were aware that the shop was owed by two Muggleborns who were very outspoken about their views. There are those who disagreed with their views and they are the ones responsible for the explosion.”

“So it wasn’t an accident.”

“Correct, Mr. Potter. And neither was it the only incident to occur that day. The only reason it had not been reported in the newspapers is because the Ministry has been keeping it under wraps. They do not wish anyone else to know how out of their control Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters have become.”

“They’re definitely the ones behind all of this?”

“Yes, Miss Evans. Without a doubt.”

“But, why? I mean, it can’t just be because of that pureblood nonsense they were spouting about before.”

“I am sad to say that _is_ the reason.” Dumbledore sighed and leaned forward. “This year is going to be unlike any other we have seen. The students’ loyalties are going to be divided between their parents’ beliefs and their peers. We can only hope they will choose the right path. This is one reason the two of you were chosen as Head Boy and Girl. In the past six years you have proven your intelligence, leadership, and overall fairness. The students listen to you — even when they disagree — because they respect you. You do not judge them by their bloodlines, but by their actions. It is my hope they will learn to do the same by following your example. Even though the two of you have not always got on in the past, this year you are proving that you can — and will — despite your disagreements.

“I fear, the wizarding world will be at war before the year is through. I mentioned last evening that measures have been taken to ensure the students’ safety. Hogsmeade visits will be shortened — _if_ we do not decide to cancel them altogether — Prefects will be patrolling in groups of four instead of the usual two, and curfew will be at nine o’ clock instead of ten. There will also be a suits of armour placed outside each common room entrance to prevent students from leaving after curfew.”

Lily nearly groaned aloud. The students would not be happy about the earlier curfew. _She_ wasn’t exactly thrilled with it, either. Dumbledore said the students respected her, but unlike James she followed the rules. Well… mostly followed the rules, but no one followed them all the time, except possibly Alice Walker (now Longbottom) who had been three years ahead of Lily.

James spoke up, “Sir, won’t students be able to slip past the suits of armour rather easily?”

“Ordinarily they would be able to.” Dumbledore smiled mischievously. “Therefore, I have instructed Professors Flitwick and McGonagall to add some protective enhancements to them. There will be an age restriction charm placed upon them. Anyone under the age of forty-five who tries to spell them will receive a slight, shall we say, surprise.”

Lily laughed inwardly. She imagined Dumbledore had thought up some extremely clever surprises. She hoped James wouldn’t warn his friends — she wanted to be able to rub it in when it backfired on them.

“Now,” Dumbledore continued, “I know that having four Prefects patrolling at once will be difficult. It will put a lot of strain on them, so I ask that you try to space the shifts out as much as possible. Also, in the past the Head Boy and Girl have only had to patrol three times a week. With the situation as it is, I would like you to be patrolling every other night instead.”

Lily and James nodded. It would mean a lot less free time in the evenings, but there was no way around it.

Dumbledore leaned back in his chair. “I believe we have covered all we needed to. You may, of course, contact me at anytime should you see the need. I shall do the same.”

Lily and James stood up and turned to leave.

“Ah, one more thing,” Dumbledore stopped them. “Mr. Potter, I trust you will be keeping the mischief to a minimum this year?” James smiled sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, Professor,” Lily told the Headmaster slyly. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

James glared at her as they left the office. “You can _try_ to keep and eye on me,” he said.

“Hmm. Just know that anytime you or your friends pull a prank, I’ll get you back twofold.” Lily smiled, looking over at him, and nearly choked on laughter. His face had paled and he looked incredibly nervous. “Anything you’d like to confess to, Potter?” she asked him sweetly.

He cleared his throat. “Nothing comes to mind.”

“So the green slime that poured all over me this morning was just a coincidence? It wasn’t well done of you. Did you forget that, aside from Dumbledore and McGonagall, you and I are the only ones able to access the Head’s Room?”

James tripped going up the stairs.

“Unless you told someone….”

“No!” James slapped a hand to his forehead. “I blew it didn’t I? Should have said I told Sirius.”

Lily shrugged. “I could always cancel Hogsmeade.”

“You can’t! You promised.”

“I know. More’s the pity.” Lily paused at the Fat Lady’s portrait and spoke the password. James followed her through. “But don’t worry, Potter. You‘ll pay.” Lily smiled at him over her shoulder as she went up the stairs to the girls’ dormitory, leaving him with a terrified look on his face.

0o0o0o0o0

Lily woke up to a period of double Potions Monday morning. While the other seventh years groaned, Lily smiled; she loved Potions. She grabbed clean underthings and shoved them into her school bag and went to the Head’s Room to shower. It was nice having a bathroom mostly to herself. Her dorm mates were still asleep but she could shower as early or as late as she liked (not to mention as long) without having to worry about waking anyone up.

The water steamed around her as she shampooed her hair. The Prefects meeting the night before had gone well. She and James had written September’s patrolling schedule yesterday afternoon with very little hassle. None of the Prefects had had to switch anything around, though there had been a bit of grumbling about four needing to patrol at a time, but everyone had understood the reason for it. Other than that, the meeting had gone very smoothly. She could only hope they would continue that way for the remainder of the year.

Lily put conditioner in her hair and was reaching for her wand to shave her legs when Potter banged on the door. “Hurry up, Evans!”

“What?” she yelled back.

“Hurry up! You’ve been in there twenty minutes already!”

Lily gave a frustrated sigh. Apparently she _couldn’t_ take as long as she wanted. She put her wand back on the shelf and rinsed her hair. She’d have to shave tomorrow instead. She shut the water off and pulled on her robe. She took a towel from the rack and wrapped it around her hair. James banged on the door again

“What?”

“Could you get dressed out here? I don’t want to miss breakfast,” he complained.

Lily huffed, pulled clothes from the wardrobe next to the sink and opened the bathroom door. James was standing directly outside dressed in a red t-shirt and red and gold striped pyjama bottoms. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his foot impatiently. “Finally,” he said.

Lily glared at him as she brushed past. She dumped her clothes on the sofa and heard the bathroom door shut loudly behind her. She huffed again and got dressed as quickly as possible. The water turned off ten minutes later and she sat on the sofa towelling her hair dry while she waited for him to finish. Another ten minutes went by and the door still hadn’t opened. She picked up her robe and knocked on the door. “Potter? Are you almost finished? I have to dry my hair and I need the mirror.”

James opened the door and then walked back over to the sink to finish brushing his teeth. He was dressed in trousers and a thin white t-shirt, but his feet were bare and his hair was still damp from his shower and it curled softly at the nape of his neck. Lily forced herself to ignore him as she hung her bathrobe up and dried her hair with a charm. She brushed it into a ponytail — it wouldn’t be good to have it down for Potions.

James rinsed his mouth and pulled on his shirt, school robes, shoes, and socks. Lily stole glances at him while he tied a Gryffindor tie loosely around his neck, even though students weren’t required to wear them. He made it look so easy and considering Lily had never seen him wear a tie before, she was surprised he could do it. The few times Lily had watched her father tie his it had always taken him at least three tries to get it right. He had asked Lily for help once and, well — it had been a disaster.

She walked back into the common room and dug in her bag for her badge so that she could pin it to her robes. She checked to make sure she had her _Advanced Potions_ book and enough quills and parchment for the class before heading out the door.

She had reached the top of the stairs when a voice called out to her.

“Hey, Evans, wait up.”

She paused while James caught up to her and they went down to breakfast together. The Gryffindor table was mostly empty. It was only eight — most waited until quarter after before coming down. Lily and James sat down across from each other and Lily spooned eggs onto her plate.

“Do you always shower in the mornings, Potter?” she asked James.

He nodded and said through a mouthful of toast, “Is that a problem?”

“I suppose not. But we’ll have to work out some sort of schedule. Taking turns going first or something.”

“Or whoever gets there first, showers first.”

“And if we get there at the same time?”

“We’ll duel for it.”

Lily snorted. “That won’t work. By the time one of us wins, we won’t have any time left to shower.”

James shrugged. “I’m an early riser.”

“So am I,” Lily countered.

“So we’ll have plenty of time to duel then.”

“Why are you duelling?” Marlene asked as she sat down next to Lily and poured herself some pumpkin juice.

“We’re _not_ going to duel,” Lily told James through gritted teeth, ignoring Marlene’s question.

“Why aren’t you duelling?” Sirius sat down next to James and bit into an apple. “Duelling is brilliant. I bet you could beat Prongs any day, Evans.” As he spoke bits of apple flung out of his mouth and hit Lily’s cheek.

“Ugh, gross Sirius.”

“Sorry, Lils.”

“ _Don’t_ call me that.” Her tone was so threatening they all looked at her in shock.

“Why not?”

“Because it used to be her sister’s nickname for her when they were younger, before Lily got her Hogwarts letter.” Remus had arrived at the breakfast table. “Now her sister only speaks to her when absolutely necessary.”

Lily smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks for that Remus.”

“No problem. I know you don’t like to explain it.” Remus sat down on Lily’s other side gingerly. He looked like he was moving very carefully, as though he had pulled a muscle or something.

“Are you all right?” Lily asked him quietly so the others couldn’t hear, knowing very well that there had been a full moon Saturday night. In fact, Lily was surprised to see him up and about at all.

Remus smiled at her wearily. “Fine, nothing to worry about.”

“How does he know that?” Sirius asked, still on the nickname subject. He turned to Remus. “How do you know that? And why didn’t you tell me?”

“I found out when we were patrolling one night last year and I didn’t tell you because I never thought you would be stupid enough to call her ‘Lils’,” Remus responded.

“I suppose that makes sense. Pass the sausage.”

The conversation turned to lighter subjects and Lily forgot that she and James hadn’t resolved the shower issue. When it was ten minutes before the first period started the group split ways. Marlene, Remus, and Peter all went back to the common room — since they weren’t taking Potions they had the first two periods free — promising to meet up with the others in Transfiguration.

The dungeons where Potions was held were poorly lit and dank — until you got to the classroom. Professor Slughorn might need to live in the dungeons since he was Slytherin’s Head of House, but he clearly had a taste for comfort. The classroom was brightly lit and he had charmed parts of the wall to be windows, which let in daylight and make it extremely easy to see. While the floor and walls were stained from exploding cauldrons, the room didn’t smell of them. In fact, the room was filled with a variety of smells coming from three cauldrons dispersed throughout the room.

Slughorn started each year the same way — he mixed up several potions and gave the students a chance to compete to win a sample of one. Last year it had been a small bottle of Felix Felicis, the ‘good luck’ potion. Lily had won the potions every single year, except for her first year, but Slughorn hadn’t held a competition for them then. In fact, she had yet to use any of them, instead keeping them in secret compartment in her trunk.

Lily set her bag down next to Lizzie. N.E.W.T. classes were held for students of all houses because so many students had dropped subjects. Lily had partnered with Lizzie last year and they worked well together. In her first five years she had had to switch partners constantly — everyone had fought to partner with her since she was so good at Potions — though she had usually partnered with Marlene or Remus, who were both atrocious.

James sat directly behind Lily along with Sirius and they immediately bent over the cauldron on their desk trying to figure out what potion was in it as the rest of the class came in and sat down.

"Evans’ll know what it is," Sirius was saying. "Hey, Evans, tell us what's in this."

Lily tilted back on the bench and glanced into the cauldron. "There's nothing in it."

"Yes, there is," Sirius insisted. "It's like a foggy red colour."

Lily laughed. "Did you forget something, Sirius?"

"What?"

"Yeah, what do you mean by that?" James asked. "I'm seeing a _clear_ red colour, not foggy."

"It's a Remembering Potion," Lily told them. "The darker the red colour, the more important the thing you forgot is. It's similar to a Remembrall, only if you drink the potion, you'll remember what it is you forgot. It's not that difficult to make, but it's very time consuming and the ingredients are expensive. If you made the potion right, you shouldn’t be able to see it. But it you haven't, the potion will turn a milky blue colour, and you have to start from scratch."

"Wonderful as always, Miss Evans!" a jolly voice called from the front of the room. Professor Horace Slughorn smiled broadly at Lily. He was a short man with prominent eyes and a large belly. His straw coloured hair was starting to thin and his enormous blonde moustache was starting to turn white. He was wearing a lavish, old-fashioned robe over a waistcoat with large gold buttons. "Ten points to Gryffindor." He pointed to a cauldron two tables in front of her. "Can you tell us what this potion is as well?"

Lily stood up so that she could see inside the cauldron. The potion had multiple colours swirling around each other and was giving off a fruity smell. "I don't know what it's called, but it reminds me of Fizzing Whizbees. Does it have Billywig stings in it?"

"Yes! Ten more points to Gryffindor! This is the solution in Fizzing Whizbees that makes you levitate. It’s made with Billywig stings and a few other ingredients that I'm sure you won't want to know if you enjoy the candy.” He smiled brightly at Lily. “Now, tell us what is in this last cauldron.”

Lily walked to the front of the room and looked inside the cauldron that was sitting on Slughorn’s desk. There was a sickly yellowish-green coloured liquid inside that smelled faintly of petrol. Lily scrunched her nose and walked back to her seat.

“Well?” Slughorn prompted her.

Lily smirked. “It’s not a potion, sir.”

Lizzie looked at her as though she were crazy, Sirius snorted, Severus Snape glared at her, and Slughorn burst into joyous laughter.

“At least,” Lily amended as she continued, “it’s not a _true_ potion. It’s only diluted bubotuber pus that has been boiled at an extremely high temperature. It _is_ very easy to make, but if the undiluted bubotuber pus comes in contact with your skin, you’ll break out in boils.”

Slughorn smiled broadly. “Ah, but you should have been a Slytherin.”

“I would have loved having you as my Head of House, sir, but I don’t think I would enjoy sleeping in the dungeons — a bit damp for my tastem,“ Lily answered him cheekily.

Slughorn laughed at her answer and awarded another ten points to Gryffindor. He waved his wand at the chalkboard and a list of ingredients appeared. “These ingredients can be combined to make one, and only one, potion. By the end of class today, the person who is closet to correctly identifying _and_ making the potion will be able to forgo taking one exam of their choosing.”

Half the class groaned, while the other grinned. Sirius spoke, “You mean that if we win, we can skive off a exam?”

“Correct, Mr. Black.”

“Wicked.” He leaned over and whispered to James, though not so quietly that Lily couldn’t hear, “Too bad Evans is guaranteed to win.”

Lily turned around and smirk at him. “Too bad for you, eh, Black? But then, it’s not as though it would have changed how you revise.”

“Well,” Slughorn asked the class, “what are you waiting for? Get to work!”

There was a flurry of movement while everyone gathered ingredients and shuffled through their Potions books, trying to figure out which potion they were supposed to brew. The only person not frantic was Severus Snape. He, like Lily, had calmly chosen what he needed from the shelves and opened his text to page 619 where the instructions for making the Blood-Replenishing Potion were.

The potion itself wasn’t that complex to make, but it was easily confused with the Vampire Draught, a potion that resembled human blood, which Vampires used as a last resort. The only difference was that the Vampire Draught contained bloodroot and the Blood-Replenishing Potion didn’t. In their rush to finish, most of the class had started brewing the Vampire Draught instead. But, by the time they realized their mistake, it was too late to start again.

Lily was about to give her potion a final clockwise stir when Lizzie, who was stretching next to her, accidentally jostled her elbow, causing her to stir anticlockwise instead. The potion turned bright green.

Lizzie gasped. “Oh, no — Lily, I’m so sorry!” She had a terrified look on her face.

Lily looked down at her ruined potion for a moment before she burst out laughing. “Well, now we know why we’re supposed to only stir clockwise,” she said.

“B-but…” Lizzie stuttered. “Now you won’t win.”

Lily smiled at her ironically. “We both know that I wouldn’t have made use of it.”

“Oh…” Lizzie fought back a smile. “You have a point. Oh, well. I’m sure whoever wins will be glad. They’ll probably rub—”

Slughorn clapping his hands and signalling them to stop cut her off. “Stirrers down, books closed,” he said. “Let’s see how well you have done.” He walked around the room glancing in their cauldrons. Every so often he would stop and point out what someone did wrong, or give a helpful tip on how to speed up the process. For those that had made the wrong potion, he advised them to read more carefully in the future and said that they should know better by now.

When he got to Lily’s potion he gaped. “What happened here?”

Lily smiled ruefully. “I stirred the wrong way.”

Slughorn looked at her suspiciously, as though he didn’t believe her. “Hmm,” he said before moving on to the next table.

Once he had finished look over everyone’s potion, he declared Snape the winner. Even though Snape was in his house and did almost as well as Lily in Potions, Slughorn had never favoured him the way he did Lily. Lily suspected that Snape was jealous, because in the past they had got along reasonably well, but these last few years Snape had treated her with something akin to hatred.

When the class began gathering their things and emptying their cauldrons, Slughorn walked over to talk to Lily as she was packing up her bag. “I’m holding a small get together on Thursday evening. And I’ll expect you to come. Doracus Meadows from the Charms Department at the Ministry is going to be there and I suspect you will want to talk with her.”

Lily smiled. “I look forward to it, Professor,” she told him before leaving with Lizzie for lunch.

The Slug Club, as the students called it, was made up of a select group of students Slughorn favoured. Sometimes the meetings were dreadfully dull, but every so often there was someone there who made it worthwhile. Lily had been a member since her second year, when Slughorn had caught her improvising on a potion. He normally wouldn’t have noticed, except for the fact that Lily had finished in half the time it took the rest of the class to. Since then she had been one of his favourites, and he constantly reminded the other teachers of that fact.

Lily walked with the other Gryffindors to Transfiguration and sat down next to Marlene in the seat she had saved for her. Professor McGonagall arrived soon after and spent the lesson reviewing what they had learned last year, before assigning a three foot essay on the dangers and restrictions of conjuring large objects. They all had a free period next and decided to make use of it by going to the library to work on the essay until lunchtime.

After lunch, Lily, Remus, and Marlene went to Arithmancy while the others headed to Muggle Studies. Once the class was over, they went back to the common room for their next free period. Lily had more free time this year because she had decided against continuing with Ancient Runes, as she didn’t need it for either of the potential careers she had decided upon.

When dinner rolled around, Lily came to the conclusion that she was glad that she had so many free periods. Professor Vector had assigned a four foot essay and even though it usually only took Lily an hour or so to write one that long, this essay needed to be so detailed that she had only finished a foot and a half. She was definitely going to need all her free time, and when she said so Remus nodded in agreement.

“I’m taking Ancient Runes and Professor Tomar warned everyone that the workload is going to be twice as much as it was last year, and if we don’t make the effort to keep up, she’ll talk to us about dropping the course.”

Lily grimaced. Yes, it was definitely a good thing she hadn’t continued with Ancient Runes.

“Of course,” Remus continued, “we’re all worried that she won’t be able to keep up either. I mean, she’s been teaching for more than one hundred and sixty years — she’s ancient, older than Dumbledore!”

Lily burst out laughing and Remus looked at her quizzically. “What?”

“Sorry,” Lily gasped. “Sorry, it’s just that, you said, you said, that the Professor Tomar was ancient. The Professor of _Ancient_ Runes is _ancient_.”

“Oh.” He paused and then smiled crookedly. “Well, she is.”

Lily rolled her eyes at him. Sometimes Remus just didn’t see the humour in what was said. Like whenever someone would say they were ‘serious’ and Sirius said that they couldn’t be because he was, Remus would always hex him. It had gotten old after a while, but even Sirius was smart enough to stop once Remus began learning more creative hexes.

The other three Marauders arrived at the dinner table and Remus turned to talk with them. The four boys put their heads together, whispering conspiringly. Lily and Marlene exchanged a glance as Linda and Janice sat down next to them. It was nice to know that no matter how bad things got, there were some things you could always rely on. And the Marauders were one of them.

Lily parted ways with her friends when they got to the common room, instead going to the Head Room to finish her Arithmancy and write up some notices.

“You have to patrol tonight, don’t you?” Janice asked before she went. “James mentioned it in Muggle Studies.”

Lily nodded. “Yes, we have patrols every other night because of the situation outside of school. And remember,” she said to Janice who had been made a Prefect this year, “you have to patrol in groups of four.”

Janice groaned. “I remember. Do you think we could choose who we patrol with next month?”

Lily shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about it. I’ll run it by Potter and see what he thinks. If I forget make sure you bring it up at the next meeting.”

Janice nodded and Lily waved good-bye to her friends, grimacing when she spoke the password for the Head common room. After that morning’s incident, she would have to speak to James about changing the password. She didn’t trust the current one to be sufficient enough to keep his friends out. They had been to Dumbledore’s office so many times that it would be easy for them to guess it. Lily pulled the door open cautiously and when nothing was dumped on her head she breathed a sigh in relief. Yes, they should definitely change the password.

Lily sat down at her desk in the empty room and made a mental note to discuss it with Potter when they patrolled tonight. She pulled her notes and book from her bag and set about finishing her Arithmancy essay.


End file.
